Three Moons Remain
by FutureShock
Summary: Twilight's crown isn't stolen by a former student of Princess Celestia, instead it's taken by a mischievous imp wearing a mask. Twilight and her friends must now travel to a new world to retrieve it. Will the Mane 6 be able to get the Element back, or will they fall to the evils of this world?
1. Stolen

Hello everyone! You know how in Equestria Girls Twilight only had three days to get her Element back? Well, that sparked the idea for this crossover. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One: Stolen

Life seemed to change in an instant for the Pony known as Twilight Sparkle. Not a few weeks ago she was just a simple Unicorn, a Unicorn who happened to excel at magic, but still simple none the less. Then, one day, she stumbled upon an ancient spell. A spell created by the famous Star Swirl the Bearded. Unfortunately the spell wasn't exactly finished... and that led to her friends' Cutie Marks(their special talents) getting mixed up. After a long process of reminding her friends who they really were Twilight had completed the spell, and upon doing so she unlocked her true destiny... she had become a Princess! She was no longer a Unicorn, no, now she was an Alicorn.

The concept of being a Princess was obviously new to the mare, but she was going to do her best to learn what it meant to be one. So when she and her friends were invited to the Crystal Empire for a royal summit with the other Princesses, she was excited. Well, she was excited, but she also feeling a little nervous. Luckily she had her friends with her to help her get through it, which was all she could really ask for.

Upon arriving in the castle she was greeted by the three Princesses, who were just as excited for the royal summit. And because it had been a long journey from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire, the princesses allowed the Element Bearers to get some rest. The summit could wait until tomorrow.

Twilight and her Dragon assistant Spike went to their respective room and started getting settled in. The Alicorn placed her crown onto her head, which didn't quite feel right. She took a look at herself in the mirror and sighed.

"What's wrong Twilight?" Spike asked.

"I don't know Spike, I'm just worried I guess. Princess Cadance was given the entire Crystal Empire to rule over. What if Princess Celestia expects me to rule a kingdom of my own?!" That thought terrified her, as the lavender mare didn't think she was ready for that kind of responsibility.

"That would be... awesome!"

She didn't share his enthusiasm. "No it would not!" She then sighed. "Just because I have this crown and these wings, doesn't mean I'll be a good leader." Twilight set her crown on the nearby nightstand and then got onto her bed.

"Sure you will Twilight." The baby Dragon encouraged. "Now come on, you should get some shuteye. You've got a big day tomorrow." He said as he turned out the lights. He then crawled into his own bed.

Just when it seemed like they would be having a nice peaceful sleep Twilight was having trouble. "Ugh, I can't, tuck..." One of the biggest things she going to have to get used to was sleeping with wings. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get them to stay put. This resulted in some mild frustration. And even if she managed to get her wings to stay by her side it wouldn't last. Yet even with all of that she somehow managed to get comfortable enough to sleep.

* * *

In the dead of night, the castle was silent. Everypony was asleep, save for the few Guards who had the night shift. Even then those Guards didn't make a sound, as they were able to keep their hoofsteps light. It was mostly for noise purposes, as they didn't want to wake anypony up during their patrols. Of course, if there were a need to make a lot of movement, thus resulting in a lot of noise, they would do it.

The peaceful quiet of the castle was interrupted by the sounds of light footsteps, which just barely made a sound in the otherwise silent castle. Those footsteps belonged to a strange creature, one that appeared to be made out of wood. He wore red shoes, green shorts, a red tunic with a sort of big green necklace attached to it, green gloves and a big red hat. What stuck out the most though was the mask on his face.

The mask was purple in color, and it was in the shape of a heart. A small part of the mask was red, but that was around the mouth, nose, and eyes. Speaking of the eyes, they were large, yellowish orange in color with small green iris's. Ten horns jutted out of the mask. There were two at the top, and four on each sides. The ones on the side each had a little color to them, ranging from green, blue, and red.

Accompanying the small creature were two Fairies. One was yellow, while the other was purple.

"Hm, let's see if there's anything good inside this place." The creature stated as they began wandering around.

All three of them looked around constantly, hoping that they would find something good to steal. While they did come across a few good things it wasn't good enough to take. And the more they walked around, they slowly realized that they were inside a castle. That fact alone made their whole expedition a little more fun. What better place to find treasure than inside of a castle?

The trio continued their search, until they happened to spot a couple of patrolling Guards. "It looks like this place is guarded." The purple Fairy noted.

"Yes, it is." The masked creature said in a sinister voice.

One Guard turned his body and noticed a mysterious creature and two floating lights. Immediately he drew his spear. "Halt!"

The other Guard did the same. "Don't move!"

An evil laugh escaped the creature, one that unnerved the Guards, less so than the creepy mask though. He simply stared at the armed Ponies for a few moments before his head started shaking.

Suddenly the Ponies felt tired, and they fell onto the ground a few moments later. They were now fast asleep.

Both Fairies chuckled lightly. "Nighty night." The yellow one joked.

With the Guards disposed of they were free to head into the door that they were guarding. Upon entering the door they found themselves in a long hallway, one that contained several different doors. The creature took a quick look around before turning toward the Fairies. "Search every room, we're sure to find something of value." He instructed as he made his way over to one door.

The two Fairies flew over to one door. They each looked over to each other before sighing. Unfortunately for them, they were too small and weak to open doors... or do anything but fly. "What do we do now?" The purple one questioned.

"I guess we'll just follow Skull Kid." The yellow one shrugged.

The creature known as Skull Kid crept over to one door, and then slowly pushed it open. Inside the room were a Pony and a Dragon, both of them were asleep. There was something promising however. It was some kind of weird crown, with a magenta star-shaped jewel embedded into it. Moving quietly he slowly made his way over toward the crown, being careful not to wake either of them. Sure, that wouldn't have caused too much trouble for him, but he didn't need to wake up the whole castle.

Just then the two Fairies entered the room. "Did you find anything?" The purple Fairy asked.

"Keep your voice down!" The yellow one scolded. "What are you trying to do, wake those two up?!"

"Sorry."

Skull Kid looked over to his companions, now sporting his recently acquired crown. "How does it look?"

"You look like royalty." Said the purple Fairy.

"We could probably get something good for that."

The masked creature nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's see what else we can find." As he started leaving he tripped over the Dragon's tail, right as it was turning over in his bed. He fell onto the ground with a hard thud, and the crown went sliding across the floor.

The Dragon woke up from that. "Huh what?" For a moment he thought he was still asleep, because he didn't believe what he was seeing. He could see some small creature wearing a big scary mask and two floating lights. "Uh... Twilight."

Skull Kid hastily got up and grabbed the crown. As he did that he noticed the Pony was getting up.

Twilight roused from her sleep and then turned her head. She blinked twice upon seeing a masked... thing staring directly at her. The staring match continued for a few moments before the mare realized that, whatever that thing was, had her crown. "Hey, that's my crown!"

The masked imp jumped slightly before booking it out of the room. His Fairy companions followed after him.

"Stop, thief!" Twilight yelled as she pursued the masked creature.

All of this commotion woke her friends up. They all poked their heads out of their rooms and saw Twilight chasing something.

"That thing has my crown!"

That was all her friends needed to hear, and now they too were part of the chase. The six of them chased the thief relentlessly, but the creature had a lead on them. Eventually though, the cyan Pony was able to tackle the thief and pin them down to the ground. "I've got you now!" Her face changed from anger to confusion, as she didn't know what she was looking at. Well, she knew it was some kind of mask, but it was really freaky.

"Good job Rainbow!" The lavender Pony said.

What happened next was a complete shock. Rainbow was flung off of the creature, and her body went skidding across the room.

Her friends stood there stunned, having no idea what had happened. After a few moments they noticed the creature was getting back to their feet. They weren't about to let them get away, so they all started cornering it. Except for the other Pegasus, who went to go check on Rainbow.

Skull Kid was backed against a wall as four of the Ponies slowly approached him. As they drew closer he simply looked between each of them, and although they couldn't see it he was grinning. "It's cute to think that you can stop me." He told them before laughing.

There was something about that laugh that the Ponies didn't like. Never the less they continued to corner them. Just when it looked like they trapped it the creature leapt high into the air. The Ponies looked on with wide eyes as the masked creature nearly reached the ceiling, and then landed gently several feet away from them. They continued to stare until the creature gave out another laugh and started running again. Everypony shook their heads and resumed the chase.

"Come on Rainbow, get up!" The yellow Pony had tried multiple times to wake her friend up, and eventually her friend started getting up.

"F-fluttershy?"

Fluttershy smiled brightly as she helped the cyan mare to her hooves. "Thank goodness you're okay."

Rainbow gave her a small smile before she remembered what they were doing. "Come on, we can't let that thing get away!" She instantly began sprinting down the hall.

The Pegasus gasped lightly before following her friend. "Wait for me!"

The two Pegasi reached the end. They looked around and noticed the others giving chase to the thief, and so they ran as quickly as they could and rejoined their friends.

"Are ya alright sugarcube?" The blonde Pony asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." She answered.

Eventually Skull Kid reached the room with the portal. He was about to go into it but stopped. He turned around and noticed the six Ponies were still chasing him.

Upon seeing the thief stop the mares also stopped. "Give me back my crown!" Twilight yelled.

"Sorry, but I think I'll keep it."

"We tried the nice way, now let's do it the hard way!" Rainbow exclaimed as she slowly walked over to the masked creature.

The others also started creeping towards him.

Skull Kid laughed yet again. "You poor fools." He stated as his head began shaking violently.

Everypony stared at him curiously before they all started feeling sleepy. They tried to stay awake but it was too hard, and it wasn't getting any easier. "We can't... let him... g-get a-away..." Unfortunately she just lost all of her energy, and she could tell her friends did as well.

"Hmph, that was almost too easy." He said to himself as he and his Fairy companions walked through the portal.

That was the last thing the Ponies saw before they slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Twilight! Twilight!"

The eyes of Twilight Sparkle slowly fluttered open. Her vision slowly returned to her. She could just barely make out the forms of the three Princesses, although everything seemed very blurry. After a while though she could see the three Ponies better. "Ugh... my head."

"Thank goodness you're alright." Celestia stated as she helped her former student to her hooves.

Now somewhat awake the lavender Alicorn took a look around. She could see her friends were in the room with her, and they were either still down or just getting up. Several Guards were in the room as well, no doubt helping in waking up her friends. She then noticed Spike, who was assisting the Guards. Twilight did her best to remember what happened last night, except it was kind of hard. "W-what, h-happened?"

"We aren't sure." Luna answered. "Some of the Guards found all of you asleep in front of the portal. They woke us up and told us of your condition. We've been trying to wake you up for sometime, and you just now came to."

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Cadance questioned.

Twilight paused for a moment, as last night was still kind of a blur. After a few more moments of thought it was then that she remembered. "Yes... some strange creature wearing a strange mask stole my crown."

All three Princesses gasped.

"We chased it through the castle, but it was pretty resourceful. It managed to escape our grasp, and then it ran into this room. We thought we had it but then its head started shaking, after that we must have fallen asleep." The mare explained.

By now everypony was fully awake. "Is everypony okay?" Applejack questioned.

"You mean aside from being launched backwards by a creature wearing a mask?" The rainbow-maned Pegasus asked in an annoyed tone.

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow. "Launched backwards?"

"Yeah! I totally tackled that thief, and then all of a sudden I'm flying across the room!"

"Hm... this is troubling." The Princess of the Sun noted. "Tell me, what happened to this creature."

"It went into that big mirror." Pinkie smiled.

The three Princesses looked between each other uneasily before sighing.

Twilight noticed the Princesses' shift in tone. "There's something special about this mirror, isn't there?"

All of them nodded. "This is no ordinary mirror, it is a gateway to another world. A gateway that opens once every thirty moons." The dark-blue Alicorn told them. "It has always been held in Canterlot Castle, but ever since Princess Cadance took over the Crystal Empire we sent it here for her to watch over."

"What's on the other side?" The lavender Alicorn asked.

"Unfortunately, we do not know. We have never gone through to the other side." Celestia explained.

Princess Cadance turned towards her sister-in-law. "Your crown doesn't belong in that world. You must get it back, for without it, Equestria will have little to no means of defense."

"The journey will be dangerous, and by no means be easy, but I have faith that you can do it." Celestia stated.

"I won't let you down Princess." Twilight bowed.

Before she could even take one step her friends blocked her path. "Hold up. If you're going than we're going too!" Rainbow declared. "Right girls?"

They all nodded. "It wouldn't be right to let ya handle this by yourself."

"We'll teach that meanie a lesson for stealing your crown!" Pinkie exclaimed.

A big smile came onto the blue-maned mare's face. Even though this was probably going to be extremely dangerous her friends were willing to stick by her. It was just like when they ventured into the Everfree Forest together. "Thanks girls." It was then that a question came to her mind, which she had to ask the Princesses. "My friends can come too right?"

They exchanged a few quick glances before they all nodded.

"You mean it?!"

"Together the six of you have overcome so many obstacles, and this one will be no different." The Princess of the Sun told them.

"Just promise us you'll be careful out there." Luna said.

"We will." Twilight promised.

Right as they were about to enter the portal Spike walked over to them. "Can I come too?"

Twilight turned to face her assistant. "Sorry Spike, but I think you should stay here." She noticed his now down-cast expression. So she put a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Spike looked at her before nodding.

With that out of the way the six Ponies approached the mirror. "Ready girls?" Twilight asked.

"Ready!" They said in unison.

"WAIT!" The pink Alicorn shouted, making them stop. "You might want your saddlebags."

"Oh yeah, right." The lavender mare chuckled sheepishly.

She and her friends then left the room. A few moments later they returned, and now they were each carrying their respective saddlebag. Now they were ready to depart. One by one they walked through the mirror, and after a few seconds they were all gone.

"Good luck my little Ponies." Even though they were already gone Celestia saw no harm in wishing them luck. They were certainly going to need it.

* * *

That looks like a good place to stop. So what did you all think, I hope you enjoyed it. Just to let you know this might not start directly at the very beginning, most likely some time in the first cycle when Link is still a Deku(sorry for spoiling). This chapter may seem short but I'm sure they'll get longer as the story goes on. Stay tuned for more, RandR and have a wonderful day!

FutureShock


	2. Clock Town

Chapter Two: Clock Town

A rainbow-colored vortex... that was how the Ponies would describe where they currently were. They weren't able to move freely, instead they were traveling in a spiral pattern. When they entered the portal they were unsure of what would happen, but they certainly weren't expecting this. And although it might have been a short journey through the vortex it still felt like a long time.

Everypony was now lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Eventually they all started to come to. Their eyes slowly opened, and they all groaned slightly. "Ugh, everypony okay?" Applejack inquired as she stood up and picked her hat up off the ground.

"I think so." Fluttershy answered as she also got to her hooves.

"My back hurts." Pinkie sat up and realized she had been lying on top of a pretty big rock. After getting to her hooves she proceeded to crack her back, which sounded a lot more painful than it actually was.

Twilight took a moment to get a feel for their surroundings. They appeared to be in some kind of giant log. Directly behind them was blocked off, and they figured that it was the way back to Equestria. "Alright girls, let's get moving." She told them as she and her friends exited the log.

The six of them now found themselves in a dense forest. Dead trees were scattered all around the area, and they were way taller than any trees in Equestria. There also seemed to be a slight amount of fog in the area, making the already dark forest even darker. It reminded them of the Everfree Forest, except a little less spooky. Still, they couldn't help but shake the feeling that they were all alone out there. Which, they most likely were.

"So where do we go now Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Hm, let's see..." The mare took a look around, trying to find a sense of direction. It was quickly becoming apparent that there was no real indication of where the creature went. Her and her friends appeared to have been smack dab in the middle of a big forest. "I don't know. That thing could have gone anywhere."

Rainbow Dash had flown up towards the sky, hoping to get a better vantage point. Unfortunately it wasn't any easier to see from way up in the air. The very nature of the forest made it pretty much impossible to get a good view of anything. With a sigh she rejoined her friends on the ground. "This place is too dense, I can barely see anything from up there." She answered, with disappointment evident in her voice.

"GIRLS!" The pink Pony shouted, instantly getting her friends' attention. "Look what I found!" She pointed to the ground.

They all looked down and noticed hoofprints, and they continued for quite a while. "Do you think that creature went this way?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Maybe." Twilight answered. "I say we follow, it's the only lead we have."

"Right." The others agreed.

Now with a plan the six Ponies galloped as hard as they could, following the hoofprints in the grass. The trail continued straight for a while, leading the Ponies deeper into the forest. Eventually the path curved slightly, right around a large stump. The trail continued into an even larger stump, one that contained a small entrance. After walking through the hollowed out part they noticed that there weren't any more hoofprints. The Ponies came to a halt.

"What now?" The farm-Pony asked.

"The only entrance seems to be up there." Rarity pointed to a big tree, one that had a narrow passageway.

Rainbow turned towards the lavender mare. "Should we go up there?"

"I don't think we have a choice." She answered.

Pinkie Pie was already ahead of her friends, as she was hopping across each of the raised stumps.

Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity each jumped across the platforms. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew themselves up.

"This is fun!" The pink Pony reached the entrance and walked through it. She bounced forward before she realized that she was about to jump into a void. Right when it looked like she was about to plunge downward she saved herself. She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling glad that she looked where she was going.

Unfortunately, her friends had no idea what was on the other side. And so when they passed through the entrance they bumped right into their friend, causing the four of them to fall down. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" They screamed.

"Oh no!" The cyan mare stated in panic as she watched her friends fall. She then noticed Fluttershy had reached her. "Quick, the others are falling!" In an instant she spread her wings and flew down towards her falling friends.

With slight hesitation the shy mare followed after.

The four wingless Ponies fell slowly through the blackness. As they were falling they could see tons of colorful shapes, but they didn't recognize any of them. One of them was in the shape of an ocarina, that much they knew... as for the others they had no idea what they were supposed to be. Another kind of looked like the creature's mask, but they weren't entirely sure. After falling for who knows how long the colorful shapes vanished, and soon after they could finally see solid ground. Although they were glad to see it they weren't sure if they would survive the fall. So Twilight quickly used her magic and cast a slow spell on her and her friends. Thanks to her spell the four of them gently landed upon the ground.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could also see the shapes, but they didn't focus on that. Instead they were trying to save their falling friends. Despite flying as fast as they could they didn't see their friends. Just when they started to worry they noticed the others were safely on the ground. Each Pegasus breathed a sigh of relief as they descended upon the ground next to the others. "Are you guys okay?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Twi and her magic." Applejack explained.

"Thank goodness, we thought you were goners." The yellow Pegasus smiled.

Now that they were safe everypony took a moment to take in their new surroundings... except for Pinkie, who was making faces at her reflection. They were currently in a big circular room. There was a shallow pool of water in front of them, and Twilight was standing on some bizarre flower. Light shone down on the center of the room, making a giant circle. There were two lit torches at the far end of the room, right next to an indented part of the back wall.

"Now what?" Pinkie asked as she returned her focus to the task at hoof.

Twilight took a look around the room; the only thing that stood out was the spot between the two torches. "Hm," Curiously she headed over to the back wall, leaving her friends to follow her. "I think this might be a door."

"Okay... so how do we open it?" The farm-Pony asked, all the while scratching her head in confusion.

"I got this!" Pinkie smiled as she put herself right in front of the supposed door. After pausing for only a few moments, and narrowing her eyes at the door, she was ready. She took a deep breath. "Open sesame!" The mare shouted with all her power.

What followed was a complete silence. Everypony stared at the door with confusion, unsure what was going to happen. Ordinarily, the thought of somepony opening a door with a simple phrase was ridiculous... but given that it was Pinkie Pie they just had to be sure.

Quickly realizing that it didn't work, and that there were no switches in sight, Twilight decided to do it her way. Concentrating her magic, her horn became bathed in a purple aura. The same aura appeared around the door. A few seconds later the door began to lift off the ground, and it revealed a pathway.

"Alright Twilight!" Rainbow cheered.

They all walked forward and once they were all on the other side the lavender mare dropped the door. The six of them were now in some kind of wooden hallway, with floral designs on each side.

They continued down the path and found themselves in yet another large room. They were standing on one large platform, and saw another one across the way. Several smaller platforms were located next to the one they were currently standing on. The strange flower from before was also in this room, and there appeared to be more of them scattered around. Also on the other side of the room was a door, an actual door this time, except without a handle.

"It looks like that's where we want to go." The Alicorn told her friends, pointing a hoof at the door.

"How are we gonna cross this?" Pinkie asked.

Rainbow Dash groaned as she spread open her wings.

"Oh yeah, right." The pink mare chuckled.

"Ah guess y'all three are gonna hafta carry us across."

Twilight became slightly nervous, she hadn't quite gotten used to her wings yet, much less using them to fly. The Pony wasn't sure she would be able to safely carry one of her friends across. Luckily the drop down to the ground didn't seem _too_ far... but that didn't mean she wanted to possibly drop one of her friends and risk them getting hurt.

"Twilight!"

Hearing her friends call her name snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked over and noticed everypony except her and Rarity were over by the door.

"Is something wrong dear?" The generous Unicorn asked.

"Sorry Rarity. I'm still getting used to my wings, and I'm not sure if I can carry the both of us safely across." She answered with a frown.

Rarity put a comforting hoof upon her friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to do it. Besides, if you need practice this is a good place to start."

One look at the warming smile of her friend was all the lavender mare needed to give it a go. With a deep breath she spread open her wings. Slowly her wings flapped, raising the Pony off the ground. Now in the air she wrapped her forehooves around the Unicorn's body. After taking another deep breath she started moving off the safety of the platform. The urge to look down was somewhat strong, but Twilight knew that wouldn't help. As she flew she heard the encouraging words of the others, and that helped her more than she knew. And after what seemed like an eternity she had safely arrived at the platform.

"See, I knew you could do it." The purple-maned mare stated.

"Thanks Rarity." Twilight smiled as she used her magic to open the door.

Much like last time they all walked through it, and afterwords it closed behind them. Now they were in an even bigger room than before, which was made all the more clear when they realized they couldn't even see the bottom. It just looked like an endless void. Again, there were platforms and the weird flowers, but unlike the last room this one had trees. Two things that stood out were the open chest on the highest platform, and the odd small tree in front of, what they presumed was the exit.

"Looks like we're flying across again." The rainbow-maned Pegasus noted.

"Are you going to be okay with that Twilight? Twilight?" The shy Pony glanced over and saw the Pony in question looked nervous.

"Are ya alright sugarcube?"

The lavender Alicorn noticed the concerned look on her friends' faces. She then sighed. "To be honest, I don't know if I can do this. It was one thing to fly across that small gap, but this one is bigger. Plus I can't even see the floor. I would hate for something to go wrong and drag one of you down with me." She explained sadly.

"It's okay Twilight, you can just teleport us across." Pinkie smiled.

For the first time in her life Twilight Sparkle felt like a complete idiot. Maybe it was the fact that she and her friends were in a strange new world, or maybe that they were so preoccupied with getting her crown back that she completely forgot about her magic(aside from using telekinesis to open the door). "Pinkie... you're a complete genius!" Remembering her magic meant that this adventure would be a lot easier.

"Woo-hoo!" The pink mare cheered.

Suddenly Twilight's horn began to glow purple, and the aura surrounding it became bigger and bigger as the seconds passed. She hadn't tried teleporting so many Ponies at once, but she was sure she could do it. In a flash of light the six of them vanished. They reappeared on the platform on the other side of the room, the one with the strange looking tree.

"Great job Twi." The farm-Pony smiled.

"Thanks." She said as she took a few shallow breathes. That didn't completely drain her, but she did feel a little worn out.

Fluttershy took this time to get a good look at the tree. She didn't know why, but she got a sad feeling the more she stared at it. Those big holes for eyes seemed to be staring right into her soul. It was most likely because it looked like it had a sad face, making her wonder why it looked like this. Had the tree been actually alive, the Pegasus was sure that it would start crying.

"Hey! Equestria to Fluttershy!" Rainbow called out.

Hearing her name snapped her out of her trance. "What?" She looked over and noticed her friends were already at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Are you coming or what?" The loyal mare asked with annoyance.

Fluttershy gave one last look at the tree before following her friends.

The six Ponies were now in quite the strange place. They were in some kind of twisted hallway. They started out walking along the dirt floor, but that soon became the ceiling. It was a rather disorientating experience, but they continued on anyway. After a few dizzying moments the group reached the end of the tunnel. Everything went back to normal as they continued onward.

After exiting the tunnel two stone walls slowly moved closer to each other before meeting in the middle, sealing them inside the new area. The group were no longer outside, instead they were in some kind of building. The room contained a big waterwheel, which explained the sounds of splashing water. Directly next to them was another waterwheel, except it was covered in moss. In fact, the stone floor and walls nearby were also covered in moss.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick." Rainbow said, still recovering from the twisted hallway.

"That was fun, let's do it again!" The energetic mare shouted.

Everypony looked at her like she was crazy.

"...Or not..." She laughed sheepishly.

Twilight shook her head as she took a few steps forward. "Come on, we have to be getting close by now."

Everypony nodded in agreement and followed the Alicorn toward the ramp.

The six Ponies walked up the ramp, all the while ascending higher up in the mysterious building. After walking up the final stretch they were now in an open room. In the center was a long spinning pole. On top of the pole were two gears, one bigger than the other. Those gears were turning two more gears, one on each side. The only place to go was up a small set of stairs, leading to two big doors. Realizing that it was the only way out they all headed towards the door.

"Hello, my little Ponies."

Right as they reached the top step they heard somepony speak, and then laugh, making them all stop dead in their tracks. They all slowly turned around and saw a strange bipedal creature. Said creature had dark orange hair, which was cut rather short. Its clothes consisted of purple shoes, purple pants, a purple shirt, and a purple coat. It also wore golden bracers, and a bizarre golden necklace. On its back was, what looked like, a huge saddlebag with dozens of masks hanging off of it. The creepiest thing about it though was its face, something about the closed eyes and big grin frightened them.

Fluttershy was hiding behind her friends, not wanting to look at the thing.

"I own the Happy Mask Shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks... During my travels a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods." It spoke in a care free voice, which identified it as being male.

"Imp from the woods?" The lavender Pony asked, only to then realize who he was talking about. "Was this mask by any chance kind of shaped like a heart and had spikes jutting out of the sides?"

"Yeah, and big scary eyes!" Pinkie added.

The man nodded. "That's the one." He then put a hand to his chin. "It appears that you have come across this imp as well."

"Yes. He stole my Element of Harmony. Without it, my friends and I can't protect our home." Twilight explained.

"I see... well then, I may be able to get you some help."

Everyponies' eyes lit up. "You can?" They asked in unison.

"Personally... no." His answer left them confused. "However, there is a young man out there who has also had a run in with the imp. As we speak he is working to stop the thief and get his precious item that was stolen from him."

"Awesome! Where is he?" Rainbow questioned, glad that they would get a little help.

"He is somewhere in Clock Town, you'll have to track him down yourselves." He answered.

Everypony began to celebrate lightly. Not only would they be getting the Element of Harmony back, but they would be helping two other Ponies at the same time! It was a win win situation.

"Except..." He began, making the Ponies stop. "I am a very busy fellow... and I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up..."

"Three days? How are we supposed ta do all that in just three days?!" The farm-Pony question in irritation. Sure, it usually didn't take her and her friends too long to solve a problem, especially when working together... but three days? That just didn't seem like enough time.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. You all look like courageous Ponies. Just believe in your strengths." He could tell that they were still a little nervous, but he knew that they could do it. "Good luck."

There was a pause as the Ponies stood in place. They were all thinking about the current situation. They had to find some young man, confront the imp, and get the Element, the mask, and somepony's precious item. All within three days. It was quite the tall task, and it seemed pretty daunting. Yet they had all completed pretty daunting tasks in the past, tasks that would appear impossible to most Ponies. This one would be no different.

Twilight looked to each of her friends, gauging their reactions to what was asked of them. Not surprisingly, there was doubt. She herself felt a little bit of doubt. She and her friends had so much to do, and not much time. And yet, even with all of that the Alicorn knew they could do this. The mare could tell her friends needed a little encouragement, or more specifically a leader. "Don't worry girls. we can do this!"

"Ah don't want ta disagree with ya Twi, but we only have three days."

"Are you sure that will be enough time dear?" Rarity asked nervously.

"It won't be easy, but if we stay focused I know we can do it!"

Now feeling inspiration Rainbow did a few loop-de-loops in the air before landing on the ground. "Yeah, Twilight's right! Now let's go teach that mask wearing freak not to mess with us!"

"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie nearly broke down the double doors as she bolted through them, eager to start the adventure.

Everypony else smiled and chuckled lightly as they followed their energetic friend's lead.

* * *

The six Ponies had wide eyes as they set hoof outside. They found themselves in some sort of town or city, they weren't entirely sure from the first glance. The sounds of hammers pounding into nails filled their ears. In the distance they could see several sets of long wooden crates, underneath straw roofs held up by wooden support beams. There were banners connecting each roof, all with different colors and shapes. In the center of the area was some kind of weird structure, with a simple platform being held above it by more wooden beams. Off in the corner was some sort of mailbox, located right next to a set of stairs.

Now that was all fine, nothing really out of the ordinary. No, what stood out the most were the beings that dwelled within the town. They were bipedal creatures, not unlike the Mask Salesman. Some were about the same size as the Salesman, but others were much bigger. One big man walked by, carrying a big piece of wood on his shoulder. He didn't even seem to notice the six Ponies to his left.

Another man, wearing a white outfit, a red hat and backpack jogged by them. He then suddenly stopped, having caught something strange out of the corner of his eye. He looked down and noticed six multi-colored horses standing there. First of all, he had never seen horses inside Clock Town before. Second, he didn't know horses could be some of those colors. The really bizarre part was that some of them had wings, others had horns, and one had both!

After a long awkward silence Twilight spoke up. "Hello there."

"Ah! You can speak!" He yelled, making everything in the town suddenly stop.

Everyone in the present area looked over at the source of the yell. In front of the Postman were six horses, each one a different color. They all stared in confusion before returning to what they were doing. The concept of talking horses seemed no stranger than anything else that happened in Termina.

"Yes, we can talk." The Alicorn replied dully. "My friends and I are looking for someone, do you think you can help us?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm currently on the job. If I stop to help you it will disrupt my schedule." He told them before jogging off to continue his work.

As he left the Ponies sighed, as they were once again on their own. "Well girls, it looks like we should get started."

"Okay, but how in the hay are we gonna find this guy?" Rainbow questioned. "He could be anywhere!"

"It would have been nice if that Mask Salesman had given us a name." Rarity huffed.

"Um... girls." The shy mare was looking up towards the sky, all the while shaking lightly.

"This doesn't seem like a big place, I'm sure if we ask around somepony can help us." Twilight told them.

Fluttershy was still looking upwards. "Girls..."

"What is it Flutter...shy..."

By now everypony was staring up at the sky, and they were all shocked. Seeing the sun was obviously nothing new, but that wasn't what shocked them. In the middle of the sky, much closer than the sun, was the moon. It wasn't an ordinary moon either. This one had a face on it, a very terrifying face. It was enough to make them all tremble lightly.

"Boy that moon looks angry." Pinkie noted.

"Ah don't get it, how can the sun and the moon be out at the same time?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "I have no idea. Maybe that's just how it works in this world." She surmised. The Alicorn had lots of questions about this new world, but those could wait until after they completed what they set out to do. After that she would seek out some information, hopefully in book form. She then shook her head. "We'll worry about that later. Right now we need to find this guy."

"So where do we begin looking?" The cyan mare asked.

"Let's ask him!" Pinkie Pie pointed as a burly man with an afro. His outfit consisted of a blue vest, green shorts, white socks and blue shoes. He appeared to be yelling at a man standing on top of the middle platform.

Cautiously the Ponies approached the man, all the while taking note of anything important. To their right was an entrance, most likely leading to another part of the town. As they drew closer to the man they noticed another set of stairs, on the far left of the area. Directly next to the stairs was what appeared to be a giant treasure chest, with some kind of poster on it. They ignored that for now because they had reached the man.

"Hey, apprentice! Don't just stand around lookin' at the sky all day!"

"Excuse me, sir?" The Alicorn began.

The man turned to his left and noticed six horses. He studied them carefully before scratching his head. "Huh, what do you know, the Postman was right. And here I thought he had driven himself crazy over his job." He then chuckled lightly. "So what do you want?" His voice may have been gruff, but he wasn't really that intimidating.

"We're looking for somepony here in Clock Town, do you think you can help us?" Twilight asked pleadingly.

"Sorry, I'm too busy preparing for the carnival." He explained, making them all frown. Seeing this he put a hand to his chin, thinking of someway he could help them. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do for them. "You could try askin' around. Clock Town is pretty small, I'm sure you'll find someone to help." With that he returned his attention back towards his apprentice. "Your break ended a while ago, now get back to work!"

Everypony walked a few feet away from the man, not wanting to bother him further. Once they were a good distance away they started discussing the plan. "Now what do we do?" Fluttershy asked the group.

"Beats me." Applejack stated. "All ah know is we need ta find this feller and help him get back his 'precious item'."

"But he could be anywhere, and we have no idea where we're going!" The rainbow-maned Pegasus reminded.

As her friends were talking Twilight surveyed the immediate area. She could see several entrance ways, each one presumably leading to a different part of the town. If that was the case then they had a good amount of ground to cover, especially since the man could be anywhere. After a few more seconds of contemplation and planning she turned back towards her friends. "Alright here's the plan." She began, already having their attention. "Since this town is so big I think we should split up into teams of two. One team goes east, one goes west, and the final one will go north." She couldn't tell if there was a northern part of Clock Town(due to the Clock Tower blocking the way), but it wasn't a bad assumption to make.

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof, signaling that she had a question.

"Yes Pinkie?"

"Do we have time to see the carnival?" She asked with a hopeful smile.

In response her friends all groaned. "We don't have time for carnivals!" The lavender Pony exclaimed. "Now then, each team will search their specific part of town and gather as much information as they can. If you find the man we're looking for come find the rest of us immediately, if not then we'll meet back here at sundown. Got it?"

"Right!" They all replied.

"Applejack, you and Rainbow Dash go west. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will go east. Rarity and I will go up north." She received nods from everypony. "Alright, let's get moving!"

With that they all set about going in their assigned direction.

* * *

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were now in West Clock Town. Upon entering that side of town they noticed several doors along the left side, but they didn't know where they led. Unlit torches were placed next to the further two doors. Directly in front of them were some stairs, taking them higher along the curved path. Several flowers were planted on raised pieces of brick wall. There was yet another straw roof, and this one covered the entire length of the stairs, or at least what they could see of the stairs.

The Ponies then noticed two more of the bipedal creatures. One was a boy wearing brown shoes, blue shorts, a white shirt with long black sleeves and a 3 on the back. They could barely make out the short orange hair underneath his blue bandana. The other was a man with medium length red hair, covering his eyes. He was wearing all green, except for his red belt. He was kneeling on a raised platform, all the while making strange motions with his hands.

The little boy was walking around in a carefree manner, enjoying the nice day outside. When he caught sight of the two horses he froze and stared at them intently. This was the first time he had ever seen a horse before. Although he was a little surprised by how small they looked. He had heard people describe horses as big, magnificent beasts... yet these two seemed like small Ponies.

After exchanging confused looks the farm-Pony spoke up. "Uh, howdy there."

In response the boy screamed loudly. "Ah! Talking horses!" He then ran as quickly as his small legs could take him, getting as far away from them as possible.

"Way to scare him off AJ." Rainbow stated sarcastically.

Applejack turned and glared at her friend. "Well what was ah supposed ta do, jus' stare at 'em'?!" She shouted in defense. "We're supposed ta ask these folk about the man looking for his stolen item!"

"Excuse me."

The Ponies stopped glaring at each other and turned towards the source of the voice. It had come from the man wearing the green.

"Did you say you were looking for a man who had something stolen from him?"

Slowly and cautiously the duo approached the man. "Yeah... why, do you know him?" The cyan Pony questioned.

"Maybe. I did come across a young Deku Scrub named Link. His Fairy explained that the two were in a hurry, that they only had three days to get something that was taken from him back."

Hearing that made the Ponies' light up. It couldn't have just been a coincidence. "Well where is he?" Applejack asked excitedly.

"He left a while ago." The man explained.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"Nope."

They exchanged a quick glance before the Earth Pony spoke up. "Did ya see which way he was goin'?"

"He went that way." He pointed to his right. "As to exactly where I don't know. As Clock Town's only banker I have to stay here." The Banker explained with a hint of regret.

"Don't sweat it pardner, that information was plenty of help."

The Banker smiled. "Glad I could be of help. So... do either of you have any rupees to deposit?" He questioned with a hopeful grin.

"Rupees?" Rainbow repeated, unsure of what a rupee was. She looked over at her friend and noticed she was just as, if not more confused.

"Rupees are the currency we use here in Clock Town. So if you happen to find any, come and see me and I can hold onto them for you." He explained.

Each Pony nodded. "We will, thank ya kindly."

Now that they had a name and description finding the man would be a lot easier... although neither one of them knew what a Deku Scrub was. Still, they had some sort of lead. The Ponies started their search by following the path. That led them to a big open area. In the back they could see two doors. One with a strange red roof over it, and the other had three signs around the top and sides. The problem was the signs were written in a language that neither one could understand.

Then came another problem. West Clock Town appeared to be deserted, there was nopony around except for the Banker, and the kid who ran away. Actually, there was somepony else around. It was a man wearing heavy armor and carrying a spear, which led them to believe that it was a Guard. And they also figured that he had some answers to their questions.

As they approached the Guard he bent down into a squat and held out his free hand, signaling them to stop. "Hold it right there you two." He had a very commanding voice. "You two must be the 'talking horses' the little Bomber kid was screaming about."

"Yeah, that was us." Rainbow chuckled nervously.

"Well you two better keep a low profile. The last thing this town needs is everyone going crazy because of talking horses."

The honest mare nodded in understanding. She too didn't want everypony freaking out at the sight of her and her friends. "We will. Say, ya haven't seen a feller named Link go by have ya?"

He shook his head no. "Never heard of him."

Rainbow put a hoof to her chin before getting an idea. "What about a Deku Sub?" She questioned, having already forgotten how to pronounce the word. She then glanced over and noticed her friend shaking her head in disappointment. "What?"

 _'These horses are strange.'_ "If you mean Deku _Scrub_ then yes, I did see one pass by. He went down that ramp into South Clock Town. I'm not sure where he went after that."

Both Ponies nodded. "Thanks." The Pegasus said as she and her friend headed towards South Clock Town. As they walked she looked towards the other Pony. "Do you think the others found him already?"

"Ah don't know, but we might as well help 'em look. No sense stickin' around here if there's nothin' ta do."

* * *

"Ooh look, jugglers!" The pink Pony exclaimed as she ran through East Clock Town.

Indeed, there were jugglers. Two men, each sporting odd shaped red hair and mustaches. They were both wearing brown shoes, white pants, and a brown belt. The only difference between them was one man was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt, and the other wore a long sleeved red shirt. The men bounced happily in place as they tossed tons of brightly colored balls back and forth.

Pinkie Pie fancied herself a good juggler, and she could tell that these guys were just as good, if not better than she was. The mare could see their lips moving, but couldn't quite hear what they were talking about, not that it really mattered to her. She just stood in place, watching the display with a bright smile plastered on her face. Her eyes drifted back and forth trying to keep up with each and every ball.

While the Earth Pony had been easily distracted Fluttershy remembered what they had been sent out to do, and it certainly wasn't what her friend was currently doing. "Um, Pinkie Pie... shouldn't we be looking for somepony?" She asked, hoping to get her friend focused on their mission.

"Maybe these guys know something." Pinkie answered without diverting her attention from the performers. She and her friend then moved closer to the man in the red shirt. "Excuse me sir, do you think you can..."

"My, my! Funny things are happening in town, aren't they? Funny. Funny." The man noted, ignoring the Pony completely.

"You're telling me! Like the rumors about the swamp to the south? Did you hear about the kidnapping?"

A gasp came out of the man in red's mouth. "Oh my! The kidnapping?"

"Yep! But then the kid woke up. Get it? Kid napping? Hooo...I got a million of 'em." The two shared a big laugh.

Pinkie too found herself laughing at the joke. "Hahaha, that was a good one!"

Now all three of them were laughing loudly.

Fluttershy sighed deeply. "Can we please start searching now?"

"Kid napping. Hahaha!" She continued to laugh before calming down. "Okay sorry. So where do you think this guy is?"

"Maybe we should ask somepony." The shy mare looked around for anypony who might be useful. Off in the distance she spotted what she assumed was a Guard. The thought of asking him crossed her mind, but he just looked too intimidating. There was also a little boy in blue walking around, but she didn't really want to approach him either. "Maybe we should just go back home Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie?" She noticed her friend wasn't by her side, and she instantly started to worry.

Fluttershy moved quickly, yet cautiously through East Clock Town. She didn't see her friend in the immediate area, which meant she must have gone up the stairs. After traveling up the steps she saw the pink Pony talking with a different little boy, this one wearing yellow instead. The pink maned Pegasus was happy to have caught sight of her friend, and she smiled as she approached the two of them.

"So you're saying that a Deku Scrub named Link came by here because he needed to see an Astronomer in order to get something that was stolen from him back?"

The kid nodded. "Yeah that's right. That annoying Fairy wouldn't shut up about it."

"That's great!" She exclaimed as she grabbed her friend, who had just now rejoined her, by the shoulders. "Did you hear that Fluttershy?! The guy we're looking for is a Deku Scrub named Link. Now we can find him and stop that meanie who stole Twilight's crown and then we can all go home!" The mare then reached over to her right and grabbed her Party Cannon. A few seconds later she fired it, spraying confetti everywhere.

Both the Pony, and the little kid stared at her puzzled. "Where in Equestria did you get that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Silly Fluttershy, you know I never leave home without my Party Cannon."

"What's a cannon?" He questioned, all the while scratching his head.

The shy mare didn't want to waste time trying to explain what a cannon was; they were on a tight schedule after all. "That's not important. But, um, d-do you think you could maybe let us through. You see we need to find Link so he can help my friends and I."

The boy crossed his arms. "If you want to pass through here, you have to say the secret code!"

"Secret code?" The Pegasus asked.

"Yep, that's the only way in."

Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin, trying to think of what the code might be. After a few seconds of contemplation she smiled. "Oh I know, is it please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No!"

"Pretty please with sugar and sprinkles and vanilla frosting and cherries and hot sauce and-"

"SHUT UP!" The kid screamed, unable to withstand the annoying Pony. He then took a moment to calm down, and after doing so he faced the duo. "Jim said I can't let anyone who doesn't know the code in. If you're not a member, they won't teach you the code!"

That last bit of information intrigued Fluttershy. "A member of what?"

"The Bomber's Secret Society of Justice of course." He said with a grin.

The name alone was enough to get the pink Pony excited. "Ooh can I join? Can I can I can I can I can I can I huh huh huh?!"

"If you wanna be a member, go see Jim in North Clock Town." He told them.

With a new destination in mind Pinkie Pie turned back towards the stairs. "Come on Fluttershy, we're going to North Clock Town!"

"B-but Pinkie, aren't we supposed to be looking for Link?"

"Well duh, if Link is in there we'll need that code. And how are we gonna get that code if we don't join a super cool secret society?"

Fluttershy didn't really have an answer. Her friend was actually making a little bit of sense.

"Come on let's go!" In an instant she grabbed her friend and dragged her towards North Clock Town.

As they left the kid shook his head. "This town keeps getting stranger and stranger."

* * *

BOOM!

Gazing through a giant telescope located far outside of Clock Town the young hero named Link saw the object fall from the Moon's eye. Whatever it was crashed just outside of the observatory, and it was big enough to shake the building lightly. By the time he returned the telescope's gaze to the top of the Clock Tower the Skull Kid had already left. Realizing that there wasn't much else to see he stepped away from it.

The old man who ran the Observatory looked over to the Deku Scrub. "Well, did you find that troublemaker? And that loud noise... what was that? Perhaps another Moon's Tear has fallen nearby... Go through that door and take a look outside." The Astronomer paused for a moment, furrowing his brow as he did so. "I wonder how that troublemaker got on top of the Clock Tower? The only way up is through the clock door, and that opens only on the eve of the carnival." He then returned to his gazing.

Link wasted no time in heading for the door. He jumped up and grabbed the handle, turning and pulling it at the same time. Once open he walked outside. Now outside the Deku Scrub got his first good look at the world outside of Clock Town, and it was huge. He could see huge mountains in the distance, way off to the right. To his left he could see an equally large mountain, one that reminded him of Death Mountain.

"Hey look at this!" Tatl, his newest Fairy 'companion' shouted.

He snapped out of his gaze and walked over to where the Fairy was floating. Embedded deep within a newly formed crater was indeed a Moon's Tear. Link cautiously bent down and picked up the rather beautiful stone. "This thing is lighter than I expected." He noted as he placed it into the pouch attached to his belt. With the stone safely in his inventory he looked towards his 'companion'. "What should we do with this thing?"

"Don't you remember that Business Scrub that wanted something for his wife?" She asked with slight annoyance.

It then clicked in the boy's mind what she was getting at. "If we give him the Moon's Tear we can get to the Clock Tower doors when they open at midnight."

Tatl rolled her eyes. "We've got a real genius on our hands here."

Link looked at the Fairy, and although his facial features didn't change he was certainly glaring at her. He was still getting used to his new 'companion', most importantly her snarkiness. She seemed to always have some sort of comment, or insult, depending on the situation. Tatl was pretty much the opposite of his previous Fairy, Navi. Thinking about her brought a frown to his face, but since his face didn't change it was hard to tell.

"Hey!" She yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you going to get moving or were you planning on letting the Moon fall?"

"Sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts." He explained. "Let's get going." He ran towards the door and opened it, letting him back inside the observatory. Once inside he ran towards the stairs. Right as he reached the top step he stopped and looked back at the Astronomer. "Thank you, for letting me use the telescope."

"Anytime child. Good luck on your journey." He waved goodbye as he watched the young Scrub descend down the stairs. As soon as the Deku Scrub was gone the Astronomer returned to his gazing, intent on doing so until the final moments of Termina. _'Hopefully that young man can do something about all of this.'_

* * *

That's the end. I decided to cut it off here since the chapter was getting long(which is a good thing), but don't worry we'll see Twilight and Rarity next time. I know Deku Link has no belt in the game, but in this story he does, it just makes more sense to me. Will the Ponies finally find Link, and can they all work together to stop the Skull Kid? You'll all have to stay tuned to find out. Be sure to RandR and have a wonderful day!

FutureShock


	3. Final Hours

Chapter Three: Final Hours

Rarity and Twilight walked up the ramp that led to the Eastern part of town. Located next to the entrance-way was another entrance, with this one leading to North Clock Town. The two Ponies walked through the entrance and found themselves in the Northern part of town. They now stood on a dirt path which branched off in three directions, north, east, and west. The western path led to some kind of cave. The northern path led to an exit, which was being blocked off by a Guard. The final direction was presumably another way into East Clock Town.

In the distance they could see several pillars and a slide. A big tree was in close proximity to the slide. Directly in front of them was another mailbox. High in the sky was a balloon with a picture of the mask on it. A little kid wearing a red bandana was shooting something at it in a vain attempt to pop it. Standing several feet away from the kid was a short man wearing an all green suit and red underwear. He was holding some kind of quill in one hand, and a piece of paper in the other.

"Hm, do you suppose that either of these three are the young man we're looking for?" Rarity questioned.

Twilight took a moment to study each one of them carefully. The Guard was definitely not the young man they were looking for. The little kid seemed likely, but then again if he was searching for something he probably wouldn't be wasting his time shooting a balloon. That just left the man in green; he was the most likely candidate. "It might be this man," She pointed to the man, who was currently facing away from them. "let's ask him."

The two mares walked towards the man in green. As they neared him the Unicorn spoke up. "Um, excuse me, sir?"

"Hm?" The man turned around and then froze. He didn't expect to come face to face with two horses, except they didn't look like normal horses. While he had seen a white horse before he hadn't seen one with a purple mane... or a horn for that matter. As for the lavender horse with a horn and wings he had no clue what to make of it. Their eyes were much bigger than anything he had seen on a horse as well.

An awkward silence washed over the three of them. A bit of a staring contest ensued as the mares stared at the man and vice-versa. Eventually, the quiet was broken by the Alicorn clearing her throat. "Hi there, my friend and I are looking for someone. Do you think you can help us?"

A small chuckle escaped the man's mouth. "What do you know, talking horses. Termina is quite the strange place isn't it." He laughed a little more before his face settled into a smile. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tingle. So how can I help you two?"

Both Ponies smiled, as they finally found somepony willing to help. "We are looking for a young man who had something stolen from him. You wouldn't happen to have been robbed by a creature in a mask recently have you?" Rarity questioned with a hopeful smile.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid you have the wrong man. I am but a simple Forest Fairy. I make and sell maps to help out my father, would you like to buy one of Tingle's maps?"

"I'm sorry but we don't have any money, maybe next time." Twilight told him apologetically.

Tingle frowned for a second before smiling once again. "Well then I wish you luck with your search." Before either of the two mares could respond Tingle bent over and reached deep into his pockets. "Tingle, Tingle! Kooloo-Limpah!" As he rose back up he showered the two Ponies with lots of confetti. "Those are Tingle's magic words... DON'T STEAL THEM!" He threatened as a red balloon began inflating on his back. Once full of air he began raising into the sky, eventually settling several feet off the ground.

The Alicorn and the Unicorn each exchanged confused looks and backed away slowly. Something told them that Tingle wasn't all there. It didn't help that the man was giving off a Pinkie Pie kind of vibe. After backing away far enough they turned towards one another. "Now what Twilight?"

"We might as well ask the kid." She stated as she walked over to the boy.

Jim, the leader of the Bombers Secret Society of Justice, was busy venting his frustrations, which he did by shooting small pebbles at the floating balloon. At first, he saw no harm in letting Skull Kid join his Secret Society. After all, who was he to turn down new members, especially when they passed his rigorous test. Unfortunately for him and his gang the Skull Kid ruined everything, nearly tarnishing the good name of the Bombers. "Stupid Skull Kid." He kept on trying to pop the balloon, but he just couldn't.

"Excuse me?"

"What do you want, I'm busy!" He said, not taking his eyes off the balloon.

"We were wondering if you've come across anypony who had something stolen from them?"

Jim didn't seem to notice that whoever was talking said anypony instead of anyone. "Nope."

Realizing that the kid wasn't in the mood to talk the two Ponies moved away from him. "Well that was helpful." The purple-maned Unicorn stated with a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't worry Rarity, I've got a good feeling we'll find who were looking for soon." Twilight smiled.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"Well we know he isn't in North Clock Town, so that narrows down the places we have to search."

"I suppose you're right." She noted. "And who knows, maybe the others have found him already."

"That's the spirit. Now come on, we should go help the others search for him." Feeling re-invigorated Twilight ran towards the Eastern exit.

The Unicorn only sighed lightly before following her friend.

It didn't take long for Rarity to catch up to her friend and soon enough they were both on course for East Clock Town. Both Ponies looked over to each other, one with confidence etched onto her face, and the other with a bit more worry present. It wasn't that the fashionista doubted her friend, she was just a little concerned about all of this. She and her friends had to track down a stranger, find that freaky creature with the mask, and get both the mask and Twilight's crown, all within three days. That was a big task and judging by their first encounter the creature was quite powerful, maybe even more so than them, ensuring that their quest would be difficult.

"Are you okay Rarity?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, the Unicorn glanced over at her friend. "I'm fine, I just can't believe this is real."

"I know what you mean. I never thought that there were other worlds out there, and yet here we are. It's just so... crazy." The Alicorn mused.

"Indeed." Rarity nodded as she and her friend passed through the entrance-way into the next part of town. "Hopefully we'll be able to take care of this problem sooner rather than later."

Just then the pair of mares bumped into someponies, resulting in all of them falling onto the ground. The lavender Alicorn rubbed her aching head and gazed up to see her friends. "Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie!"

"Hi girls!" The pink Pony smiled as they all stood up and engaged in a group hug.

"It's good to see you two." Rarity noted as they broke apart the embrace.

A warm smile graced Fluttershy's face. She was happy to have run into her friends, it made her feel more comfortable. She and her friends were in a strange new world, full of weird and somewhat scary creatures. Naturally it took her out of her comfort zone, but seeing her best friends assured her that everything would be alright. "So did you two find out anything?"

Both Ponies shook their heads no. "Whoever we're looking for isn't in North Clock Town." Twilight noted.

"Did you girls have any luck?" The generous Unicorn asked.

Pinkie Pie's face lit up with excitement as she eagerly waited to give her answer. "Well I ran into this little kid who's a member of the Bomber's Secret Society of Justice who said a Deku Scrub named Link went into their hideout to see an Astronomer to get back his precious item that was stolen from him." Despite saying all that at once she wasn't out of breath.

Everypony stared at her for a few moments before Twilight finished processing what her bizarre friend had just said. "Wait, are you sure that's who we're looking for?"

The pink Pony nodded rapidly. "Uh-huh. Unless that meanie's going around stealing stuff from everypony in town."

"This is great!" The Alicorn exclaimed. "Now we have a name."

Rarity shot her friend a questioning look. "But we still don't know where he is." She pointed out.

"What about the Bombers, they might know." The shy mare suggested.

"Great idea Fluttershy!" The lavender Alicorn said, making her friend smile. "Come on everypony, we have to find the Bombers!" In her excitement she ran forward, heading back to North Clock Town. After a few moments she returned to the others, feeling slightly stupid. "Uh does anypony know where we can find them?"

Pinkie raised her hoof high into the air. "Ooh I know! Their leader Jim is in North Clock Town!" She smiled.

"That must be that little kid shooting at the balloon." The purple-maned Unicorn realized.

Now that she actually knew which way they were going Twilight ran forward once again. "Come on girls, let's go talk to Jim!"

* * *

Link ran through the tiny corridor that led to the entrance of the Bombers' Hideout. As he ran he could see the little kid move out of the way, no doubt having heard him approach. Once he was back in Clock Town he headed for the stairs. As he was walking he failed to notice several multi-colored horses in North Clock Town. After heading down the set of stairs he took an immediate right into the main part of the town. He then headed over to the Business Scrub.

"Excuse me sir, would you like to buy..." Business wasn't going as well as the Deku Scrub had hoped. Nobody ever seemed to want what he was selling, as every time he tried to talk to anyone they would just ignore him. It was a little disheartening, but there wasn't really much he could do about it. So he merely let out a sigh and did his best to remain hopeful.

"Hey Scrub!"

The Business Scrub turned his head towards the sound of the Fairy's voice and saw the little Scrub and his companion walking up to him. "Ah just the Deku Scrub I was looking for. So, do you have a Moon's Tear?" He asked hopefully.

Link reached into his pouch and pulled out the shining stone; he held it in his hand for the Scrub to see.

Upon seeing the stone the Business Scrub lit up. "Ah! That stone! You must hand it over to me!" He demanded as he rubbed his hands together. "In exchange, I'll give you this spot here... Deku Flower included! Yes?"

Link nodded in agreement before handing him the stone.

"Great!" He placed it into one of his bags. He then searched around in the same bag for a few moments before pulling out a piece of paper. The Scrub handed it to the younger Scrub; who held it high above his head in triumph. "You really helped me out! Now I have the perfect souvenir for my wife! She hasn't set eyes on a jewel or strange, sparkling stone like this in a very long time. The Title Deed for this spot should be in high demand among Deku Scrubs, but you already know that. If you don't need it anymore, you can always sell it!" With that he took off his cap, grabbed his bags, and burrowed himself deep within the flower. A few seconds later he popped out and began flying out of Clock Town.

"What am I going to do with this?" The Deku questioned as he examined the deed.

"Who cares, it's not important!" Tatl yelled. "The important thing is we can now reach the Clock Tower."

"Right." He said before putting the deed in his pouch. "Well, we still have time before the carnival, what should we do now?"

"I think we should..." The Fairy lost her train of thought upon seeing a very strange sight. "Was it just me, or did two horses come out of West Clock Town?"

Link looked at her in confusion. He was about to comment when he too noticed the horses. He didn't get to look at them for long as they headed up the ramp towards the northern part of town. Several questions then came to his mind, the most important being how did horses get in the town? He was also confused as to why one of them was blue with a rainbow colored mane. The fact that the other one was wearing a hat was also strange, but no more so than the weird marks on their flanks.

Tatl also found herself at a loss. She knew that any horses in Termina were located at Romani Ranch, which was pretty far away from Clock town. So the only explanation was that they had gotten out. Even if they had gotten out there was no way they would be allowed into Clock Town. Although they wouldn't be able to get out anyway as a giant boulder was placed in front of the entrance, courtesy of an old friend of hers. And although she only got a small peak she could have sworn she'd seen them somewhere before, as to where she had seen them she couldn't quite remember.

The Fairy then shook her head, quickly realizing that standing around wasn't going to answer their questions. "Hey!" She yelled, getting her partner's attention. "Maybe instead of standing here we could go follow them?" Her voice was full of sarcasm.

Since he had found a means of reaching the Clock Tower, and because there was plenty of time to kill, Link nodded in agreement. He then made his way towards North Clock Town.

* * *

When Jim created the Bomber's Secret Society of Justice it was just a little club, something he and his friends had made. Despite the somewhat intimidating name the Bombers were meant to help people with their problems, hence why justice is in the name. At first, no one really took them seriously, with all of them thinking it was just a bunch of kids playing around. However the Bombers quickly made a name for themselves. Of course, being little kids, they certainly weren't battling monsters, but they still managed to help those in need.

While his Secret Society may have consisted of just him and his friends didn't mean they were excluding others from joining. In fact Jim had agreed to let someone who wasn't even human join! That poor little Skull Kid seemed so alone, so what better to do than let him join... unfortunately that turned out to be a mistake. The good name of the Bombers was almost completely tarnished because of all the harm Skull Kid caused. The damage was so bad that Jim became hesitant to let anyone who wasn't human join, in fact he quickly decided to only let humans in and no one else.

Even when that Deku Scrub tried to join he refused to let him in, but he did give him a super secret code for passing the test. That was as far as he was willing to go for non humans. Now imagine his surprise when a bunch of talking, multi-colored horses asked to join his group... well, it was mostly the pink one pestering him. "You can't join!"

"Aw come on!" Pinkie Pie pouted.

"Sorry, but only humans are allowed. We let someone who wasn't human join once, big mistake." The boy told them.

Twilight pushed her energetic friend aside, to keep her from badgering the kid who may have been their only lead. They weren't there to join a gang they were looking for Link. "Forgive her, she can get a bit worked up sometimes." She then cleared her throat. "The real reason we wanted to speak to you is to ask you about Link."

"Link?" Jim questioned. "Oh, you mean that Deku Scrub."

The Alicorn nodded. "Yeah. We were hoping you could tell us where he went."

"How would I know that?" He asked incredulously.

"He didn't tell you where he was going?" Fluttershy questioned.

Jim shook his head no. "My guess would be he went to our hideout."

Despite hearing that bit of information it didn't exactly help the Ponies. The only way into the hideout was with a secret code, known only to the Bombers. And because they couldn't join them they had no way of getting the code. Which meant they were back at square one.

"Hey, guys!"

Everypony turned around and saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash galloping towards them. They all smiled as they ran towards the two mares. As soon as they met they all hugged each other tightly.

"Great, more of them." The leader of the Bombers muttered.

"Golly, ah didn't expect we'd all wind up here." The farm-Pony stated.

"Well when Rarity and I didn't find anything we went to East Clock Town to help Pinkie and Fluttershy. They told us that a Deku Scrub named Link had something stolen from him, and that he had entered the Bomber's Hideout. So we came back here to try and get some information from their leader Jim. But what are you two doing here?" The lavender mare questioned.

"Applejack and I didn't have much luck either, but we heard from the Banker the same thing you just told us. We asked a Guard where Link could've gone but he didn't know. So we figured we would help you girls search."

Laughter could then be heard coming from the pink Pony. "Isn't it funny, we all went to different parts of town only to realize that we just needed to head to North Clock Town?" She continued laughing even though she was the only one.

"To be fair, you wouldn't have even come here if it weren't for the kid in East Clock Town." Twilight reminded.

"Oh yeah." The pink-maned mare chuckled nervously.

It was then that Rainbow noticed something familiar about Jim. "Hey you look like that other kid in West Clock Town."

"Of course I do, we're members of the same Secret Society' The Bomber's Secret Society of Justice." He explained,

Just like her energetic friend the cyan mare liked the sound of some kind of Secret Society, especially when it had such a cool name. In an instant she was already in front of their leader, looking him straight in the eyes. "So how do we join?" A huge smile graced her face.

In response to her request he groaned. "How many times do I have to say it, only humans are allowed!"

"Hey we popped that balloon for you," Rarity reminded. "the least you could do is give us a chance."

Right as he was about to answer Jim noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. And upon seeing that person he smiled like a mad man. "You said you were looking for Link right?" He received nods from everypony. "Well he's right behind you." He pointed to the entrance to the Southern part of town.

Everypony turned around and saw yet another strange creature. This Link person stood no taller than themselves, maybe just a bit taller. He appeared to be made entirely out of wood, which seemed evident due to his un-moving facial features. There was something about those orange eyes that made him look sad. The weird part was that he had hair, yes, blonde hair. Despite being a creature made out of wood he still wore some clothing. He wore two brown boots, and above that was some kind of green skirt. On his... paws... were two gloves. Completing the outfit was a long green hat which was almost the length of his body.

The Deku Scrub stood there as he watched the Ponies, who were in turn watching him. And the more he stood there the more creeped out he became. It was as if he was some kind freak or something, or that he stuck out like a sore thumb. Which was kind of ironic considering just what was looking at him. Eventually all six of those Ponies came running towards him, making the Scrub cower in slight fear.

Everypony stopped just in front of the man. They all had bright hopeful smiles on their faces as they continued to stare at him. Another bout of silence ensued before it was broken by Twilight. "You're Link correct?"

He jumped back in surprise, having not expected one of the horses to talk. He then nodded slowly.

"You wouldn't have had anything stolen from you recently, have you?" The Alicorn asked.

"Yeah... but how did you know that?" The Hero of Time was genuinely confused. How had these horses known about what happened with the Skull Kid, and how in the world could they talk?!

"That creepy Mask Salesman told us." Rainbow explained.

Link still had dozens of questions. "Okay, but how did you get into Clock Town? And since when can horses talk?"

"Hey were not horses, we're Ponies!" The pink Pony exclaimed. "Ya'see, me and Applejack are Earth Ponies. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are Pegasi, Rarity's a Unicorn, and our dear friend Twilight is an Alicorn, which is a mix of all three. Oh, and my name's Pinkie Pie!" She smiled brightly.

Despite that little explanation Link was still puzzled. While he did learn their names, that didn't help him at all. He had never heard of Pegasi, Unicorns, or Alicorns before. They certainly weren't found in Hyrule. Maybe they had special kinds of horses in this new land. That was his best guess, and the only thing that made any kind of sense. It didn't quite explain the bizarre names though. "Well... it was nice to meet all of you, but I should get going."

"Now hold on a minute." Applejack said. "The reason we came lookin' fer ya is we need yer help. Mah friends and ah had a run in with that mask wearin' imp. He took Twilight's Element of Harmony, and we need ta get it back so we can protect our home." She told him in a serious tone.

 _'Element of Harmony?'_ The Hero of Time was unsure what she meant by that, as well as protect their home. Yet if they were coming to him for help who was he to turn them down? Besides, it wasn't like it was out of the way, or would distract him from his own mission. This was a good chance to not only get the Ocarina of Time back, but also get whatever an Element of Harmony was.

"So will you help us... if it's not too much trouble?" The shy mare asked.

"Of course." He told them.

Hearing his answer made all of their eyes light up. "Really?" Twilight asked.

Link nodded.

Everypony then started cheering. While it probably should have been obvious that Link would've helped them, given that they were after the same person, they were still excited. There was a chance that he would've have turned them down, but luckily that didn't happen. And now they had a chance to get back their stolen possessions.

The Deku Scrub stared at the six of them curiously, having never really seen such wild cheering. They sure were an interesting bunch, but that might have been a bit of an understatment. Well, they certainly seemed odd, although if they actually were odd had yet to be seen. But he was sure that it wouldn't take long to get to know all of them.

It was then that Pinkie noticed something strange. "Hey Link I think your back is glowing."

He glanced behind him and noticed Tatl floating there.

Upon seeing the group of Ponies Tatl instantly recognized them from before. They were the same Ponies who had their crown stolen by the Skull Kid. She was sure that they wouldn't take too kindly to her presence. That's not to say she was afraid of them, she just didn't want some kind of big fuss. Especially because she wasn't even associated with that imp anymore. Who knows, they might have even suspected her of tricking her companion, which wasn't true at all!

"Oh yeah, this is my new 'friend' Tatl." The Scrub stepped aside in order to let them see her.

"YOU!" The cyan mare yelled as she glared daggers at the Fairy.

Everypony else also shot a glare her way.

A nervous chuckle escaped the Fairy's mouth as she moved herself closer to Link.

Link didn't understand what was wrong at first, but he quickly realized why the Ponies were acting like that. If they did get their Element of Harmony stolen by the Skull Kid it meant that Tatl was definitely there. He could imagine that she and her brother did something similar to them as they did to him. And while he couldn't blame them for being angry he knew they would never accomplish anything if they didn't work it out. "Wait!" He yelled, making them stop their hateful glaring momentarily. "I know Tatl did some bad things but she's trying to make up for it."

"Yeah right, I'll bet she's still working for that imp!" Rainbow stated.

"I'm not working for Skull Kid anymore, and if I was why would I be helping Link trying to find him?" She asked, not liking the Pony's accusations.

Applejack found that hard to believe. "Why should we trust you?"

"Yeah you and that meanie Skull Kid stole from us!" The pink Pony added.

Rarity turned towards the Scrub. "How could you possibly team up with her? I'll bet she helped that Skull Kid steal from you too."

"You're right, she did." Link admitted. "But she's trying to make up for it. That's why she's been helping me track down Skull Kid. So we can put an end to him once and for all."

At this point Twilight was having her second thoughts about Tatl. Sure, she had assisted Skull Kid in taking her crown, well... she didn't actually help him. She was there, and the mare was sure that she would've have helped him if he needed it, but she didn't. Besides, she had been taught to forgive Ponies for what they did. And if she and her friends could make peace with Discord, surely they could do the same for Tatl. "If you trust her, then so do I."

Everypony gasped at that. "Are you serious; how can you say that?!" The rainbow-maned Pegasus demanded.

"Tatl may have done some bad things, but that doesn't mean she can't have a second chance."

The Deku nodded in agreement.

The Alicorn could see her friends were still uneasy about it, so she figured she would put it in simple terms. "Besides, Link seems set on working with Tatl. And if we want to make this work we'll have to put our differences aside." She told them in a slightly stern voice. While she couldn't blame them for their anger she knew it wouldn't help anything. If they were all fighting there was no way they would be able to stop the Skull Kid.

After a long moment of pause Rarity spoke up. "Well, if you say we should trust her then I'll do it."

"Me too." Fluttershy stated.

"Me three!" The pink Pony beamed.

Twilight smiled at her friends. She then turned towards the remaining two, who still looked pensive.

A deep sigh escaped Applejack's lips. "Ah guess ah can give it a try."

All eyes then fell upon Rainbow Dash.

"Okay fine... but I've got my eyes on you!" She told the Fairy, getting right up on her face for emphasis.

Tatl rolled her eyes in response. "I'm so scared."

"Now that we have that settled let's get down to business." Twilight stated before turning toward Link. "So, what can you tell me about the situation. How close are we to finding the Skull Kid?"

"We know where the Skull Kid is, he's up at the Clock Tower." He told them.

"Oh." The Alicorn muttered in surprise.

Hearing that piece of news made Rainbow Dash grin like a mad-Pony. Since Link had already done the hard, boring work of finding the Skull Kid all they had to now was go after him. And once they had him where they wanted him there wouldn't be any escaping this time. No, she would personally make sure that after their encounter that he wouldn't cause anypony any harm again! "Aw yeah. Now let's go teach that punk a lesson!" She exclaimed as her wings opened up.

"Not so fast!" The Fairy exclaimed. "The only way up to the Clock Tower is on the eve of the carnival, which happens at midnight two days from now."

"So what, we're jus' supposed ta sit around and wait fer two days?" Applejack questioned.

"Well at least it's already night time." Pinkie noted with a smile.

Everypony looked up and realized that their friend was right. The Ponies all had shocked looks on their faces as they continued to stare up at the starry night sky. When they first set hoof into Clock Town they hadn't actually bothered to look at the giant clock the town was most likely named after. Judging by the sun's position in the sky they figured it was early in the afternoon, maybe just being a little past noon. So to learn that so much time had passed was astonishing. How could so much time have passed? Surely their search didn't take _that_ long... did it?

 _'Time must go by quicker in this world.'_ Twilight mused to herself, all the while making a mental note to remember that. She wasn't sure how long she would be in this new world, but it didn't hurt to learn all of the important details.

Fluttershy looked between her friends and their two newest companions. "Um, where are we going to sleep tonight?"

They all turned towards Link, figuring that he had the answer.

"There's an inn in East Clock Town," He explained, making them all smile. "unfortunately you can't stay without a reservation."

Frowns appeared on the Ponies' faces at that bit of information. If they couldn't stay at an inn then how would they sleep? They certainly couldn't sleep on the ground, it wouldn't be comfortable at all. That, and the Guards probably didn't like people, or Ponies, sleeping on the streets. "How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep without a place to stay?" The generous mare pouted.

"We wouldn't need to sleep if we could just go to that stupid Clock Tower." The cyan Pegasus grumbled.

"Well there's gotta be somethin' we can do ta pass the time." The farm-Pony was trying to keep everyponies' spirits up. Did she wish she had a nice comfortable bed to sleep in? Of course she did, but sometimes things don't always work out in your favor. So she figured finding some way to make time go by faster was their priority.

A hopeful smile appeared on Pinkie Pie's face as she turned towards Twilight. "Oooh, I'll bet you have some cool time spells that could help us!"

The Alicorn shook her head. "Unfortunately no. Time spells aren't very common, and I doubt my spell book would have any. Besides, we used a time travel spell before and it was very limited in its uses."

"Oh yeah." The pink-maned mare smiled.

"There has to be some other way though..."

It was then that Tatl had an idea. It was crazy, and a bit of a long shot, but it was the only option they had... aside from waiting it out of course, but honestly no one wanted to do that. "I think I may know of something." She stated, making everypony turn towards her. The Fairy then diverted her attention to her partner. "Remember that scarecrow we met?"

* * *

The group found themselves back in East Clock Town. When asked why they were there Link told them to be patient. The Deku Scrub led them to the entrance of the Bombers' Hideout, and after giving the secret code, which was a five digit number combination, they gained access to the hideout. "Alright, head on in." He gestured to the Ponies.

One by one the Ponies entered the narrow hallway. Rarity, being last in line, paused and turned toward the Scrub. "I forgot to mention just how lovely that skirt is, it really suits you." She complimented before entering.

Link's face went red. It stayed that way before he shook his head. "It's not a skirt, it's a..." He was going to say tunic, but he wasn't exactly wearing a tunic at the moment.

Beside him Tatl was laughing hysterically. The Fairy had wanted to make a joke about it earlier, but she figured due to recent events that it was too soon. Now though was the perfect time to have a laugh.

The Deku glared at his companion before heading into the hideout. _'I become the Hero of Time and this is the respect I get?'_ He pushed that thought aside as he walked down the long dimly lit hallway.

Eventually they reached the large pool of water, which stretched to the other side of the room. Aside from the water there were also a few platforms that one could use to get across. The Deku Scrub took the lead as he leapt onto the water. Instead of falling in he bounced on top of it. He bounced from platform to platform until he was safely at the other side.

Everypony stared at him with slightly wide eyes. They had never seen anypony skip across water before, not even Pinkie Pie could do that.

"Hey!" The Fairy called out. "Are you coming or what?"

Ignoring her tone Twilight unfurled her wings. "Come on girls." She began flapping her wings and started rising off the ground. The Alicorn then flew herself over to the other side. As she flew she couldn't help but be grateful for the flying practice. She was certainly going to need all the practice she could get. The mare then touched down on solid ground, and once she was safe she turned towards the Scrub. "How did you do that?"

"Deku Scrubs can't swim, but luckily we're light enough to hop across water."

The Alicorn wanted to ask why. From the way he spoke it sounded like a Deku Scrub would drown if they fell into the water... Twilight's face then went slightly blank. She had no idea if it would be an instant death, and she had no intentions of finding out.

"Ugh, I spent so long on my hair this morning." Rarity whined as water slowly dripped off of her now straightened hair. Obviously she was used to getting her hair back to the style she usually kept it in, but that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed by it. Especially when the mare had been pushed into the water by Rainbow Dash. "I just hope I remembered to pack my brush." She stated as she opened up one of sides of her saddlebag. "Ah here it is!"

"Phew that was close. I mean, the fate of the world is at stake, but your wet hair is _way_ more important." Tatl responded sarcastically.

Everypony, except for Pinkie and Fluttershy, looked up at the Fairy with a glare. That comment wasn't appreciated.

"We're wasting time." Link told them, feeling a little bit of irony. He then started running down the hall, with the Fairy trailing him.

The Ponies followed after him. While they were starting to get annoyed with the Fairy, more so than they already were, they figured it was best just to put up with it. Having Link's help was the most important thing, and if they had to deal with a wisecracking Fairy then so be it. Besides, once they defeat the Skull Kid and get their stolen items back they wouldn't have to put up with her anymore.

The seven of them arrived in a big square room. On the opposite side was a ladder which led to another room. Directly next to the ladder were two lit torches, as well as two sets of jars on either side.

Link wasted no time in heading to the other side, and once there he climbed the ladder.

Everypony quickly realized that climbing wasn't something they could do, at least not as well their newest companion could. And while someponies could fly up others could not. So it fell to Twilight to get them up there. Her horn soon became bathed in a purple glow, and it grew bigger with every passing second. Eventually she and her friends disappeared in a flash, appearing right next to Link a few moments later.

He stared at them with wide eyes, not literally, but figuratively. He had no idea that any of them knew magic, and the fact that they could was a pleasant surprise.

Tatl for her part was also confused. "You can do magic?"

"These horns aren't for show you know." Twilight stated with a slight smirk.

They continued staring at them before snapping out of it. "Let's go." He said as he led the Ponies down the hall. As he walked he couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have run into them. There was only so much he could do as a Deku Scrub, especially when his only attacks were spinning and blowing bubbles. But now he had powerful allies. The Scrub assumed that teleportation was the least of their magical capabilities, and if that was the case they had a great chance of defeating the Skull Kid.

The group reached the end of the hallway, and the stone beneath them gave way to wood. They were now in a hexagonal shaped room, with a colorful set of stairs in the back. Also in the back were several wooden crates, a scarecrow, a chicken in a cage, as well as other various things. Scattered across the floor were pieces of paper, with some of them having pictures on them.

Link made his way over to the scarecrow.

"How's a scarecrow gonna help us pass the time?" Applejack whispered to Twilight. Another question she had was why there was a scarecrow here in the first place. The most logical place for a scarecrow was a farm, not in some underground hideout where it would most likely never even see a crow. Maybe it was just her farmer's instincts talking, but she was a little frustrated with whoever put it down there in the first place.

Figuring that Link knew what he was doing, and because they had no other ideas of how to make time go by quickly, everypony walked over to him.

"If you like baby, we can forget the time and dance until dawn!" The scarecrow explained as he waved his arms wildly. "Shall we dance?"

"Yes." Link answered.

In response he started jumping around wildly. "Oh, yeah! In that case, forget the time. Let's dance!"

Before anypony could question how a scarecrow could talk he started dancing around, which in reality was just him swaying back in forth while swinging his arms up and down. At first they had no idea what was going on. But the longer they stared at him the more they felt entranced. Something about the dance was so enticing, it was as if they couldn't look away. In fact they didn't. Everypony simply stood there watching the dance, not at all concerned by anything else that was happening at the moment.

The Stylin' Scarecrow was enjoying himself a little too much. He just kept on dancing, and dancing, and dancing...

* * *

"Oh, yeah! How was it? It went by in an instant, right?"

Everyone blinked rapidly, unsure when the last time they did so was. They all then glanced around in confusion. How long had they been standing there?

"I'm still full of energy! But outside it seems to have gotten kind of... dangerous. Yikes... I'm gettin' outta town!"

Twilight's thoughts returned to her, and she just now processed what he had said. "Dangerous? What do you mean? How much time went by?"

"I'd say two days."

"WHAT?!" Everypony exclaimed.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess I got a little carried away there. Well, take care... before I go, I know of a mysterious song that allows you to manipulate the flow of time... would you like to learn it?"

Link nodded.

"Oh, yeah! Now listen up! It seems that if you play that mysterious song backward, you can slow the passage of time. And if you play each note twice in a row, you can move half a day forward through time. How's that? Pretty interesting isn't it? If you learn a new song, come try it on me. Until then, I'll see ya later, baby!" With that the Stylin' Scarecrow burrowed himself deep within the dirt he was placed in.

"Okay let's go, we don't have much time left." The Deku turned and noticed the Ponies all frozen with shock.

Tatl grumbled to herself before flying into all of them, snapping them out of their shock. "If you're done standing around we can get get going? You heard him time's running out."

Twilight was the first to speak. "Okay, but... what just happened? I mean, there's no way we just stood in place for two days straight."

"Ah don't know. At first ah was confused by that funny dance, and then, ah guess ah fell into some kind of trance." Applejack stated.

"Yeah I just couldn't look away!" Pinkie added with a smile. She wasn't sure about her friends, but personally she enjoyed the scarecrow's dance. Had she not been entranced she would have joined him.

The others had similar experiences. One moment they were staring at the odd display, and the next they fell into a trance. How something so simple as a dancing scarecrow put them into a trance they will never know. And even though it was weird and there wasn't a good explanation as to how it happened, it did supposedly make time go by. So in the end they couldn't really complain.

"Are you seriously gonna stop after every little thing that happens?"

Hearing the sarcastic remark of the Fairy brought everypony back to reality. If they truly did move time forward two days then that meant time was slowly running out. "Come on girls, let's move!" The Alicorn commanded as she followed after the Deku Scrub.

Everypony else wasted no time in pursing after them.

They all jumped down off the ledge, since it wasn't that far of a drop, and then they headed back up the ramp. After doing that they went to the other side of the hallway, putting them back near the water. Despite Rarity's complaints about getting her mane wet again they crossed the watery obstacle and traveled up the second ramp. It only took a few moments to finally reach Clock Town, and when they did they all gasped.

What was at one time a bright blue sky was now a mix between a dark purple and red, although it appeared to be mostly red. The stars were still in the sky, but they were all so focused on the eerie sky color that they didn't notice. Worst of all was the moon, which was _a lot_ closer than it had been when they went into the hideout. All in all there was a strange feeling of emptiness, and the town itself felt really quiet.

"Is it me, or is the moon bigger?" Pinkie asked.

"It's not getting bigger it's getting closer!" Tatl exclaimed.

"W-what do you mean c-closer?" The shy mare could barely look at the moon as it was, and the thought of it coming closer to her and her friends was all the more terrifying.

"The Skull Kid's been making the moon fall slowly for the last three days. He's going to crush Clock Town and kill everyone who didn't flee." She told them plainly.

Link already knew that, since Tatl had conveyed that to him after exiting the Clock Tower.

Everypony else on the other hoof was mortified. Not only had Skull Kid stolen from them, but now he was trying to kill them! Sure, Nightmare Moon did kidnap her sister, and Discord did try and turn Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world... but those acts didn't even come close to what was going to happen soon. How anypony could be so evil was beyond them.

 _'I'm just glad Princess Luna isn't here.'_ Twilight knew that if Luna were to learn that somepony else was controlling the moon to kill Ponies, that she would explode with anger. Although that might have helped them the more she thought about it. Nopony, not even the Skull Kid, could deal with an angry Luna.

The Deku Scrub looked over and noticed his new companions were starting to get nervous. He couldn't blame them though. He had done this sort of thing before, and he kind of assumed that they hadn't. "Don't worry, we're going to stop Skull Kid long before he can try and kill us with the moon."

"Okay but how are going to beat him? He's crazy powerful, and it's not like we have any weapons to fight him with." The rainbow-maned Pegasus noted.

"We do have magic on our side Rainbow." Twilight reminded. "But you're right, he is powerful."

"That doesn't matter. No one is invincible, I've learned that first hand. If we focus, and give it our all, I know we can do this!" Link told them.

His words filled the Ponies with confidence. A few moments prior they were all worried, and not without reason. Just how were they supposed to stop somepony with the power to make the moon fall down towards the town? Yet now everypony was feeling good, like they could take on anything that came their way. Maybe that was also just a side effect of being around Link, because there was clearly more to the Scrub than meets the eye.

A heavy sigh escaped the Fairy's mouth, as once again she was going to have to yell at them. "I'm starting to think you all want the moon to fall." Her comment was dripping with sarcasm.

Realizing she was right Link took a few steps forward. "Let's get to the Clock Tower, we don't have much time left."

* * *

The journey to South Clock Town had been anything but peaceful. Since the moon was literally about to fall and destroy the entire town almost everyone jumped ship, so to speak. What was once a lively bustling town was now basically empty, making it seem like a ghost town. The only people who had stayed, as far as they knew, were the Guards and one or two others. It made sense for the Guards to be there though, seeing as how it was their duty to stay and protect the town. There was one stubborn man who, despite having proof right in his face, still doesn't believe the moon will fall. In fact he called everyone cowards for leaving.

The Ponies tried hard to convince him otherwise but he wouldn't budge. So, all they could do was hope to stop the Skull Kid before that man could get crushed. And after talking to him they made their way onto the small platform that would take them to the top of the Clock Tower.

Link used the recently acquired Deku Flower to get himself up there, and once he did he stood with the Ponies and waited. In spite of having a moment to rest none of them could relax. In just a few short hours they would face off against the Skull Kid, and there was no real way of knowing how it would go. That alone seemed to make the waiting that much worse. Time felt like it was going slow, and each passing minute seemed like hours.

Eventually it became midnight, and the chiming of the clock made that fact clear. Following the chime were fireworks, lots and lots of fireworks. They were supposed to be for the carnival, except now the joyous explosions conveyed a darker tone. As the sky lit up with color the top of the Clock Tower, as well as the clocks on the front and sides, slowly started rising into the air. Upon getting high enough the top part started falling down, moving the clock on the front of the tower to the top. That was followed by the door sliding downwards, revealing another door. There were several more doors in fact, and they all fell to make a staircase to the top.

Despite being able to challenge the Skull Kid the group paused for a moment. The Ponies were all feeling very nervous. Even though they had their confidence built up by Link their fears had returned. It was one thing to talk about the encounter, but here they were about to actually have it! Going face to face with the masked imp again was a scary thought, and they weren't sure how it was going to go down. Would they be able to stop him and get their stolen possessions back, or would they fail and all meet their end?

The Deku Scrub regained his wits faster than his companions, and he was already heading up the stairs. Looking back he noticed the Ponies looking pensive once again. "We've come too far to stop now."

Twilight exhaled deeply. "Well girls, this is it." She took a few steps forward before turning around to face her friends. "I don't know what will happen, but just know I love all of you. You're all my best friends."

Tears came to everyponies' eyes as they ran forward and gave the Alicorn a hug. It was a rather tight embrace seeing as how it could easily be their last. "We love you too sugarcube."

In response to their heartfelt moment Tatl groaned. "I think I liked following the Skull Kid around more." She muttered before following the Scrub.

Everypony chuckled lightly at that as they broke off the embrace and trailed the two of them.

They were now standing on top of the Clock Tower. The floor was full of strange patterns and symbols, the meaning of which were lost on the Ponies. In addition to the strange designs, parts of the floor, as well as the wall, were all colored differently. One part was green, another blue, one red etc.. Big green jars were also present, although they did little but add to the scenery.

Floating right below the Moon was none other than the Skull Kid. He had his back to the group, as if he didn't even see or hear them make it to the top of the tower. After a few long seconds he slowly turned around. Resting on top of his head was the Element of Magic, and bouncing up and down in his left hand was the Ocarina of Time. He merely stared at them for a while, just gauging their reactions.

The tense silence was broken by Tael. He flew out from behind the imp and smiled brightly upon seeing who had come. "Sis!" He yelled.

"Ah! Tael! We've been looking for you two." She explained. "Hey, Skull Kid, what if you gave that mask you're wearing back now?"

"Yeah, and give me back my Element of Harmony!" The Alicorn shouted.

"Sorry, but I like this little crown of yours. I think I'll keep wearing it for a while."

Tael then flew out a little further. "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. Hurry... the four who are there... bring them here..."

Angered by his Fairy's outburst, Skull Kid slapped him. "Don't speak out of line! Stupid Fairy!"

Pinkie glared at the imp. "That wasn't very nice!"

Everypony else also looked at him with hateful gazes, feeling just as angered. How could he do that to one of his friends? Sure, there were times when even the best of friends could have arguments or be mad at each other, and the Ponies knew that full well, but there was never a need to resort to violence. No matter how mad anypony got it never escalated to physically fighting, which just goes to show how much Skull Kid cares about friendship.

Fluttershy on the other hoof was hiding in the back, silently wondering when this nightmare would be over. She was trying to stay strong, but it was hard. It was bad enough being in the Skull Kid's presence, especially after that previous display, but there was also the big scary Moon looming over them. Part of her knew that if she just stayed close to her friends that she would be fine, but that didn't mean she would couldn't try and keep herself safe.

"Nooo! What are you doing to my brother?" The one who was the most angry was Tatl, who resisted the urge to charge her former friend head on. "Skull Kid, do you still think you're our friend after that?!"

At this point friendship was the least of the masked imp's concerns. "...Well, whatever. Even if they were to come now, they wouldn't be able to handle me..." He laughed. "Just look above you... if It's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!" After that chilling message he brought his limbs in close, and then spread them out wide. As he did that he unleashed a powerful spell, which was accompanied by an equally powerful yell.

It was so loud that the Ponies' ears clung to the sides of their heads, and found themselves unable to move. In fact, they couldn't really do much except stand there and try to not go deaf. The painful shrieking continued for a few moments before it died down. They then looked up and noticed the Moon was falling at a slightly faster rate, which was a panic inducing sight. That meant if they were going to stop the Skull Kid they needed to do so now.

Twilight noticed that he was still in the same pose, not moving at all, giving her an idea. Her horn became enveloped by a bright purple light as she prepared to fire a concussive blast. To her right she noticed Link leaning back with a giant bubble coming out of his nose. Doing her best to ignore the disgusting display she focused on her target. Once ready she fired her magical blast, at conveniently the same time her companion shot his bubble.

Getting hit by both the bubble, and the magical blast caused the imp to lose concentration. As a result of being stunned his body leaned backwards. The crown slowly slid off his head, and the ocarina fell out of his hands.

Reacting quickly Rainbow Dash zoomed over and snatched the Element out of the air. She didn't save the blue instrument, but luckily it survived the fall to the ground. With that done she returned to her friend. "Here you go."

Twilight smiled as her crown was placed upon her head. "We did it girls, we got it back!"

Meanwhile Link ran over and quickly grabbed his Ocarina off the floor. Upon doing so he held it up triumphantly over his head. Finally, he got the Ocarina of Time back. If it were any other ocarina he probably wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to get it back, but it was no ordinary instrument. It was the Ocarina of Time, an instrument kept safe by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Not only did it play songs but it was also one of the keys to opening the Door of Time, thus allowing him to get the Master Sword. He remembered retrieving it from the pool outside of Castle Town, right after Ganondorf attacked. And then later when Zelda gave it to him before his journey...

Zelda...

Cheers and other happy thoughts were vocalized by the Ponies. They had been sent by the Princesses to retrieve the missing Element of Harmony, and they had done just that. Sure, there were times when hope seemed lost, such as actually trying to find Link, but the Ponies never gave up. They did find Link, and they did confront the thieving imp, and now they had Element back. It was a successful mission all in all, which was conveyed by another group hug.

As the Ponies continued their group hug Pinkie spoke up. "Now what?" She asked, making everypony pause.

"Well, now we go home." Applejack answered.

"Yeah, there might be a problem with that." The cyan mare said while pointing upwards.

Having just recovered from a daze the Skull Kid was none too pleased. He had worked so hard to get those items and now they were gone, and by the worst way possible. How dare they steal from him when he couldn't do anything about it! Despite his growing anger he was smirking under the mask, for he knew that it would only be a matter of time before they were all dead. The looks on their faces were going to be priceless!

Twilight fired another beam from her horn but this time it was avoided.

"You'll have to do better than that."

"Just how are we supposed to stop him?" Rarity questioned.

 _'Come on, think Twilight think!'_ As she contemplated what to do next her rainbow-maned friend charged at the imp, only to be sent crashing into the wall by magic. While thinking she glanced over and noticed Link staring off into space. It certainly was a bad time for him to do so, as they really needed him.

Tatl continued hitting her partner until he finally snapped out of it. "Snap out of it! What are you doing lost in memories?! Get yourself together! Getting that old ocarina back isn't going to help us! Somebody! Anybody! Goddess of Time, help us please!"

It was then that the Deku Scrub knew what to do. That flashback of Zelda came not a moment too soon. At first, he didn't see the significance of it, but he quickly realized the importance. Through the vision he re-learned the Song of Time, which only had a few uses back in Hyrule. But after playing the song again Zelda told him that when he played it the Goddess of Time would watch over him. Well, he certainly needed her now.

So, he pulled out his Ocarina. Although in his current form it wasn't an Ocarina, instead it was a set of Pipes. Five horns were attached together and the path to the mouth piece curved around the Deku's body. It was almost as big as Link himself.

"Huh? When did you get that instrument?!" The Fairy was at a complete loss.

Ignoring her comment he began playing the Song of Time. As he played he could literally feel the memories rushing back to him. It felt so familiar, but at the same time like it was his first time playing it.

Everypony stopped their thinking and worrying when they heard a song being played. Looking forward revealed Link playing a large set of Pipes. Where he got them was a complete mystery, as well as the song he was playing. After the last note finished the Ponies noticed everything seemed to have slowed down by a lot, as if the world was going in slow motion. The next thing they know there was a bright flash of white light, and that was the last thing they saw.

* * *

That looks like a good place to stop. Sorry if I did skip a couple of days, I'm sure you can understand why though. There wasn't really much I could see them doing in the very first cycle so I decided to have time speed up, and what's the best way to do that, use the scarecrow of course. And I did speed up the scarecrow's dancing as well but it would be the same each time. A fun fact, that you may or may not know, but time goes by a lot faster in the very first cycle than any other cycle. Well, Link got his ocarina back and the Ponies got the Element of Harmony back, so they can go home now right? Hehe... WRONG! As for why they can't you'll just have to wait and see. Also, I'm not sure if every chapter will be this long, but it would be amazing if they could(I'll try my best, but no promises). Be sure to RandR and have a wonderful day!

FutureShock


	4. Termina

Chapter Four: Termina

Time itself seemed to have been distorted, at least that's what it felt like for the Ponies and Link. It was as if they were falling into an endless white void with dozens upon dozens of clocks around them going in reverse. They wanted to scream out, but they were unable to in that state. It was a very surreal experience to say the least. After what felt like forever their vision cleared away, and they could no longer see anything. And then images of the last three days began to flash before them. From encountering the Skull Kid, to meeting the Mask Salesman. It lasted several moments before everything went black.

Eventually the group found their vision returning to them, and they quickly discovered that they were back in Clock Town. There was a moment of pause as they all tried to process what just happened. Tatl was the first to snap out of her shock, and she instantly flew into her companion's face. "W-what just happened?! Everything has..." She took a good look around and noticed everything looked the exact same as on the first day they arrived at the town. "...started over..."

Link then ran forward before looking up at the moon, which was much further away than when he had last seen it.

"Uh, would somepony mind tellin' me what just happened?"

Unfortunately nopony had an answer. One moment they were on the Clock Tower, facing off against the Skull Kid, and the next there was some kind of white light. After that they wound up back in Clock Town. By the looks of things everything was back to how it was when they first arrived, and if what Tatl just said was true then everything did start over.

"I have no idea." Twilight finally managed to say.

Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "It's almost as if we..."

"Traveled back in time?" The cyan Pegasus finished.

"Well... I'm not hearing any other explanations."

"But I thought we couldn't travel back in time?" Pinkie stated.

"Apparently we did." Tatl flew back over to the group.

Link also rejoined the Ponies.

"Okay, but how? The only way I know of doing that is with a spell." The Alicorn told the Fairy.

"Ask Deku boy."

All eyes quickly fell on Link.

He let out a sigh. "I'm not really sure how, but we did go back in time." It was then that he came to a realization. "The Song of Time."

"Song of Time?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Yeah, the Song of Time. It's a melody known only to the Royal Family of Hyrule. I've played it a lot but never before have I been able to go back in time because of it." The Deku Scrub admitted.

Everypony stared at him curiously. They had a feeling that Link was no ordinary man, and the fact that he just sent them all back in time was even further proof. Yet it also felt like he was hiding even more about himself, especially since he just revealed he wasn't even from Clock Town at all. They wanted to question it, but they were cut off by the Fairy.

"Your instrument! The Mask Salesman said that if you got back the precious thing that was stolen from you, he could return you to normal! Did you completely forget or what?" She asked sarcastically.

If they had been able to, his eyes would have widened. He had been so caught up in stopping the Skull Kid, and helping out the Ponies, that he forgot about that part of the deal.

"Return him ta normal, what does that mean?" The farm-Pony asked.

Instead of answering the Deku Scrub ran past them and into the Clock Tower.

"Hey wait for us!" Rainbow called out as she and the others followed him inside.

Once inside they saw the Mask Salesman, who was still standing there with a big grin.

As the Deku Scrub approached the Salesman's grin increased in size. "Were you able to recover your precious item from that imp?"

Link nodded.

"And I recovered my Element of Harmony." Twilight told him.

Ignoring the Pony for now the Mask Salesman bent down and started shaking the boy violently. "Oh! Oh! Ohhh! You got it! You got it! You got it! You got it!" He then walked over to a giant organ and sat down.

Everypony blinked twice. "Where did that come from?" Rainbow questioned.

"Beats me." The orange Earth Pony shrugged.

"Listen to me. Please play this song that I am about to preform, and remember it well..." He then started playing the organ. Instantly the Clock Tower was filled with the sounds of music, even if it was only three notes.

Without hesitation the Deku Scrub pulled out his Pipes. Remembering the notes he repeated the song, and after playing each note twice he felt something click in his brain. It was just like back in Hyrule whenever he learned a new song. Now that he knew the song he played it once again, but this time he played past the final note. Part of him was unsure how he knew what came next, but whenever he learned new songs he always seemed to be able to build on it.

As the music filled their ears the Ponies couldn't help but notice how sad the song sounded. At the same time though they also felt a little relieved, as if a great weight was being lifted from their shoulders. It was sad, yet beautiful.

Once the music stopped they noticed Link was struggling against something, as if he were in pain. Nopony knew what was happening, and they didn't like it. "Link are you-" The Alicorn's sentence was cut off by a bright flash of light, which blinded her and her friends. As soon as the light faded everypony gasped loudly.

Gone was the Deku Scrub, and in his place was a Hylian boy. He was around the same size, but he appeared to be a bit taller. He wore the same boots, although they were bigger and looked more like actually boots. On his body was a green tunic, with a dark brown belt around his waist, and one going diagonally across his chest and back. The one across his chest held his sword and shield, which were strapped to his back. Instead of just a few strands of hair he had a full head of it, and in the front he had parted bangs. His hat was also present but it was smaller than when he was a Scrub.

Link took a good look at himself and sighed. It felt good to be back to normal.

The Mask Salesman smiled at the boy. "This is a melody that heals evil magic and troubled spirits, turning them into masks. I am sure it will be of assistance to you in the future. Ah, yes. I give you this mask in commemoration of this day. Fear not, for the magic has been sealed inside the mask. When you wear it, you will transform into the shape you just were. When you remove it, you will return to normal."

Link bent down and grabbed the mask, and not a moment later he held it up over his head triumphantly.

Everypony stared at him confused, unsure why he was doing that.

"Did anypony else hear that jingle?" Pinkie asked.

Rarity turned towards her. "What jingle?"

"It was like 'dun dun dun duuuuuunnn!'" She sang, holding the last note longer than the others.

The Ponies looked at her like she was crazy.

"Now, I have fulfilled my promise to you..." He held out his hand. "So, please, give me that which you promised me..."

Link's face instantly went blank. He had been so caught up in getting his Ocarina back, as well as helping the Ponies, that he completely forgot about the mask. Looking back, he could see the Ponies forgot about that as well. And also that they were avoiding looking the Salesman in the eye. Sighing, the Hylian glanced at the ground, ashamed.

"Don't tell me... my mask... you did... get it back... didn't you?"

The Alicorn rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Uh, the thing about that is-"

Without warning the Mask Salesman's face changed from a smile to one of pure rage. He then grabbed the boy and started shaking him violently. "What have you done to me!"

Everypony took several steps back, now feeling utterly terrified. Fluttershy hid behind the others, not liking how scary he was acting right now.

The orange-haired man continued shaking the boy before throwing him onto the ground, not hard enough to injure him, but enough to get his message across. He then gripped the sides of his head and started shaking wildly, as if he was having a panic attack. "If you leave me mask out there, something terrible will happen!"

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked.

Calming down slightly, he sighed before preparing to tell them the story. "The mask that was stolen from me... it is called Majora's Mask. It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals. It is said that an evil and wicked power is bestowed upon the one who wears that mask. According to legend... the troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great... the ancient ones, fearing such catastrophe, sealed the mask in shadow forever, preventing its misuse. But now, the tribe from legend has vanished, so no one really knows the true nature of the mask's power..."

After hearing that story the Ponies took a moment to think. Majora's Mask was very powerful, and by the sounds of it also very dangerous. And the Ponies knew first hoof that that kind of power in the wrong hooves could be disastrous. The fact that it was being worn by an imp who probably wasn't even aware of the kind of power he had at his disposal was even scarier.

"...But I feel it. I went to great lengths to get that legendary mask. When I finally had it... I could sense the doom of a dark omen brewing. It was that unwelcome feeling that makes your hair stand on end. And now... the imp has it... I am begging you! You must get that mask back quickly or something horrible will happen! I'm begging you! I'm begging you! You must do it!"

Link had been staring at him curiously the whole time. The strange body motions confused him, but he heard the message loud and clear. The Skull Kid needed to be stopped, and he was the only one who could do it. "You can count on me." His voice had also changed, and it sounded normal for a boy his age, instead of the Deku voice.

"Really? You'll do it for me?"

He nodded in reassurance.

"I was certain that you would tell me that." He then spread his arms out wide, as if he was getting ready for a hug. "You'll be fine! Surely, you can do it. Believe in your strengths... believe..."

With that Link headed towards the door, ready to start his new adventure. He moved past the Ponies and walked outside.

"It appears that you have found what you were looking for little one." The Mask Salesman noted.

The Alicorn glanced up at her tiara. "Yeah." She then used her magic and placed it back into her saddlebag. The last thing she needed or wanted was for it to fall off or get stolen again.

He smiled at her. "Well now, since you have what you wanted you can head on home."

"Oh, yeah..." She said softly.

Everypony else was also not as excited as they should have been. Now that they had the missing Element of Harmony it would have been easy to just go home... but that didn't feel right. This world was in trouble, a lot of trouble, if the Mask Salesman's story was any indication. And sure, Link had promised to help, but he was just one little kid. There was no way he could have done it by himself. Besides, it didn't feel right to just let him do it on his own, not when they could do something to help.

"Hm, it would seem you don't want to leave."

"We do but... this world needs us, Link needs us. And I think I speak for everypony when I say that I want to stay and help."

Applejack nodded. "Yer darn right."

"Absolutely." Rarity added.

"Yeah, I still need to get that Skull Kid back for what he did to me!" The rainbow-maned mare stated while rubbing her hooves together evilly.

Pinkie Pie also nodded. "Friends always stick together, and Link is our friend! Well, he's not really our friend yet since we just met him and know absolutely nothing about him except he's a hero who wears green... but that doesn't mean he won't become our friend." She had taken a liking to Link, if only because of everything he did for them. So it only made sense to return the favor, as well as become bestest friends!

All eyes then fell on Fluttershy. The shy Pegasus had been relieved to finally have the Element of Harmony back, and if she were being honest with herself she kind of wanted to head home. It's not that she didn't want to help Link, it's just that 'questing' wasn't really her strong suit. And yet at the same time she wanted to stay. Her friends needed her, this world needed her, and what kind of Pony would she be if she just walked away? "Okay, I'm in."

Everypony cheered before engaging in a big group hug, which lasted for several moments. Afterwords they broke it off and turned to face the doors.

"Okay girls, let's do this!"

* * *

Outside the Clock Tower Tatl flew into her partner's face. "That mask... the Skull Kid uses the power of that mask to do those terrible things. Well... whatever it takes, we've gotta do something about it. ...The Swamp, Mountains, Ocean and Canyon that Tael was trying to tell us about... I bet he was referring to the four areas just outside of town. There's one in each compass direction. But what do you suppose he meant by 'the four who are there'? I have no idea. He always skips important stuff. I guess we should just go and find out. If we go through that gate ahead we'll be heading in the direction of the Swamp."

Not needing to be told twice, Link started off towards the gate.

"WAIT!"

He stopped and turned around, and to his surprise the Ponies were still there.

This was the first time the Ponies got to see his face, his real face. The first thing that stuck out to them were his pointy nose and ears. He had a lot more hair now, and his bangs looked even bigger than before. His facial expression was neutral, neither smiling nor frowning. What stuck out to them the most were his eyes, which were a very bright shade of blue. It wasn't the color though, as much as it was the eyes themselves. It was as if he was speaking to them without actually talking, and it also seemed like he had seen way more than a little boy ever should.

Realizing she and her friends were staring Twilight shook her head rapidly. "Were you just going to leave without us?"

Link nodded.

"But why?" Fluttershy asked.

"You already got what you wanted didn't you?" Tatl questioned. "Besides, you Ponies would probably just slow us down."

In response to that Rainbow flew right up into her face. "Hey we're a lot tougher than we look, we can keep up just fine!"

Applejack walked forward and pulled her friend away from the Fairy. "Listen, we get yer a hero an' all but we jus' want ta help ya."

"You don't have to do this alone." The Princess added.

"Yeah, we're a team!" Pinkie exclaimed as she threw confetti into the air.

Link took a moment to think about it. On the one hand, he never really had help on his adventures before, aside from a Fairy of course. And he was used to just doing it alone... but maybe it would be good to have some assistance. There was only so much he could do, and by the looks of it the Ponies had abilities that he didn't, and that would prove very useful. It would certainly be both quicker and easier with them.

"We don't need your help, got it?" Tatl didn't like the idea of working with the kid, but it was her only option. And she certainly wasn't a fan of the Ponies, what with them always stopping to comfort each other and say it's alright.

"Alright, you can join me."

Everypony was at first caught off guard by what he said, but it only took them a few moments to register it. As soon as they did they all smiled brightly. They didn't think it would have been easy to convince him to let them join, but not impossible. And now he had agreed to let them help! The Ponies continued smiling before beginning to cheer loudly. Pinkie even pulled out her Party Cannon and fired it into the air.

Beside him Tatl flew close to his ear. "Are you sure you want them coming along?"

"They may look weak, but they have powers I don't have. And if we're going to stop the Skull Kid we'll need every advantage we can get." His tone left no room for argument.

The Fairy merely shrugged. "Just don't come crying to me if they wind up dead." She told him in an uncaring tone.

He ignored her morbid comment and diverted his attention back towards his new allies, and he noticed they were still celebrating.

Several of the townspeople had looked over and instantly became confused by the strange display the Ponies were putting on. Although their hugging and cheering was less weird than the confetti cannon the pink one was holding.

After a few more seconds of celebrating the Ponies calmed down. Twilight could see his confusion, and she chuckled nervously. "So... where are we going first?"

"The Swamp, just past that gate." He pointed in that direction. "This is going to be a tough journey, I hope you're all prepared."

"Don't worry about us, we have everything we need inside of our saddlebags." The Alicorn explained with a smirk.

Nodding, the Hero of Time started walking towards the Southern exit.

The Ponies quickly followed after him. "Not much of a talker ain't he?"

"Maybe he's shy." Fluttershy whispered back.

After a few moments of walking the group reached the exit, only to be stopped by a Guard.

"Stop right there! Have you some errand in the Swamp?"

He nodded.

"It is dangerous outside the town walls, so I cannot allow a child like you to..." It was then that he noticed what the boy was carrying on his back. "...A sword? My apologies sir. It was wrong of me to treat you like a child. The Southern Swamp at Woodfall lies in this direction. Be careful." With the message delivered the Guard stood to the side, allowing the boy to pass.

The Ponies tried to follow him but were stopped.

"Hold it! Where do you think you're going?"

Link stopped and turned back to see what was happening. "They're with me." He told the Guard.

"Alright, but just be careful out there little Ponies."

Once the Guard was out of the way everypony followed the boy through the exit.

* * *

A collective gasp escaped the Ponies' mouths as they got a good look at the world they were now in. It was huge! Directly in front of them was a massive grassy field, which seemed to stretch out for miles. Six pillars stood in front of the entrance, with three on each side spread out several feet apart. Spread out along the field were a couple of big barren trees, not unlike the huge forest way off in the distance. A big hollowed out log could be seen in the distance, and even further away was a gigantic mountain(which may or may not be volcanic).

"Gosh, this is some field." The farm-Pony noted. To her it was almost as big, if not bigger than Sweet Apple Acres.

"Yeah and just look at that mountain." Pinkie pointed up to the mountain, which even at this distance looked big.

Twilight walked forward, placing herself next to Link. "We're going forward, toward the forest?"

He looked over to her and nodded.

"Well we'd better get going. Something tells me it's going to be a long journey." The Alicorn told the group.

Rarity let out a sigh. "I just hope the path isn't too dirty, I would hate for my mane to get ruined." Sure she had her hairbrush, but that could only do so much, especially since there didn't appear to be any water nearby with which to clean it.

"The fate of the world is at stake and all you can think about is your mane?" Rainbow asked with annoyance.

The Unicorn scoffed. "Hey, some of us pride ourselves on our looks."

"Rarity you can worry about that later, right now we need ta get a move on." Applejack gestured forward and her friends noticed that the others had already started walking.

Sighing again, the Unicorn followed them.

And so they walked along the grassy fields(except for Pinkie who was bouncing), traveling at a quick, but relaxed pace. It would have been faster to run across, but seeing as how they had a long walk ahead of them it was best to take it slow. The journey ahead was going to be tough, and they were going to need every bit of energy. And luckily the terrain was flat for the most part, so they wouldn't have to make any tough climbs anytime soon.

Despite the landscape being pretty devoid of life Link still kept his eyes peeled. Just because he couldn't see anything didn't mean there wasn't anything there. He knew from experience that some enemies hid within the ground, and then pop up right as you passed by them. A quick glance behind himself revealed his companions were still following him. He wasn't worried that they couldn't keep up, he just didn't want them getting lost or for an enemy to sneak up on them.

Everypony stayed close to their guide. They were all a little weary around him, even if there wasn't really a good reason to be. Maybe it was because they just met him, which would be a natural response for anypony. Or maybe because of the vibe they got from him. Link just seemed so serious, and kind of distant. It was similar to Guards at Canterlot, except not quite the same. It was like he had done this kind of thing before, and that experience made him who he was. Of course, those were just theories, seeing as how they knew next to nothing about him.

Just then the Hero of Time stopped suddenly, making his companions do so as well.

Confused as to why they stopped, everypony exchanged confused glances. "Why did we stop?" The shy mare wondered aloud.

"Link what is it?" Twilight asked him.

He didn't answer, instead he was just looking around.

It was then that a strange sound could be heard, and it sounded like it was getting closer and closer. The only way the Ponies could describe it is if a big pile of jello started bouncing toward them. And when they turned their heads, they were surprised to find out they were pretty much spot on.

A big, translucent, green blob was indeed approaching them. What stuck out the most were the two green eyes and the big toothy grin.

"What in the name of Celestia is that?!" Rarity shrieked.

"It looks funny!" Pinkie smiled as she moved towards it.

"That's a Green Chuchu. It's nothing to be afraid of... it usually has something in its stomach that's of use." Tatl explained.

Fluttershy looked up to the Fairy. "So it isn't dangerous?"

"Not really. It can bite, but that's about it."

Everypony sighed in relief before the Princess spoke up. "That's good, for a second I thought... PINKIE PIE!"

They all looked on in both confusion and fear when the pink Pony was seen inside the Chuchu.

"Hehe, it tickles!" If the pink Pony were in danger, she certainly didn't know it, and if she did she didn't seem to care.

Sighing lightly Link walked over to the blob. He unsheathed his sword and thrust it into the Chuchu, being sure not to impale Pinkie. As soon as his sword pierced the gooey creature it exploded, sending green globs flying everywhere. He found himself lightly covered, less so than the Pony. With that taken care of he put his weapon away and helped his companion to her hooves. It appeared that it didn't have anything inside of it though, and after wiping the gunk off himself he rejoined the others.

Meanwhile Pinkie Pie was licking the gooey substance off of her coat. "Mmm, tastes like jello." She smiled, much to the disgust of her friends.

"How revolting." The Generous Unicorn commented, all the while thankful none of that icky stuff got anywhere near her. The last thing she needed was the get her mane or coat ruined.

They then all looked over and noticed Link was once again moving forward. "Come on girls, we've still got a lot of ground to cover." Twilight told them as she followed after him.

* * *

Hours passed in the blink of an eye as the group continued toward the Swamp. The sun was shining bright in the sky, beating down on all of them. It was already a little warm, but with the sun it seemed to make things even hotter. Not that they minded... well, Link wasn't really fazed by the heat, having been in far hotter places. The Ponies though were definitely feeling the heat, but they weren't about to let that stop them.

"Ugh, just how far away is this stupid Swamp? It feels like we've been walking forever!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"It hasn't been that long Rainbow." The Alicorn told her, trying to keep her friend's spirits up. She then glanced up to the sky, trying to see how much time had exactly passed. They had left pretty early in the morning, and judging by the sun's position in sky it was sometime in the late afternoon. Her facial features contorted into a slight frown. "Okay maybe it has been kind of long. But still, we're making good progress."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Besides, compared ta all the other stuff we've done this is nothin'."

The cyan Pegasus sighed. "Yeah but this is still kind of annoying."

"Well then feel free to just turn around and go home then." Tatl remarked.

Instead of answering she merely grumbled. _'I'll show you lousy Fairy!'_ Even if her friends trusted her Rainbow still didn't. While she had been taught to forgive that didn't mean she would just openly accept the annoying Fairy, and she had a sneaking suspicion that a few of her friends shared the same feelings. Despite those feelings she couldn't really do anything, so for now she would just complain to herself.

"It's not so bad Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie smiled. "At least there's plenty of grass to snack on." She wandered over to a nearby bush, which was most likely just crabgrass. The mare reached down and took a big bite.

 _CRACK!_

Everyone stopped and turned towards the pink Pony, who had a big blue gem in her mouth. Her teeth looked as though they were about to completely fall apart. She then spit the gem on the ground.

Upon seeing the gem Rarity's eyes instantly lit up. "MINE!" Instantly she was on that gem, and in just a few seconds she was already holding it in her hooves. "Such a lovely gem."

"That's not a gem, that's a Rupee." The Fairy explained.

The party Pony raised an eyebrow. "Rupee?"

"Yeah, it's the form of currency here."

Hearing that made the Unicorn gasp loudly. "How can something so beautiful be used as currency?!" To say it angered her was a big understatement. Back home, this gem would have been used for a beautiful dress. But in this world such beauty was wasted on buying things. The worst part was these Rupees probably just wasted away with whoever possessed them. "Hmph, well you all can use these for money, but I'm holding onto this!" Using her magic she placed it into her saddlebag.

Just then a low growl was heard, but it didn't come from an animal. Fluttershy looked at everyone sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm just really hungry."

"Now that ya mention it, ah'm also kinda hungry."

"Did anypony bring any food?" The cyan mare asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

"Lemme check!" Pinkie opened up one side of her saddlebag and started digging through it, to the point where it looked like she would be able to fit her whole body inside. After a few seconds she pulled her head out and frowned. "I guess I didn't bring anything."

The Ponies were a little surprised by that, seeing as how their energetic friend usually brought food along with her, or at the very least some candy.

"Hey I'm just as surprised as you are." She told them.

Twilight frowned. Had she been given more time to prepare she would have made sure that she and her friends would have had food for the trip. Although, she couldn't have anticipated that they would have been staying longer than expected. Still, it would have been a good idea to at least bring some snacks or something. She made a quick mental note to remember to bring some form of snack with her whenever she and her friends went somewhere far.

Applejack took a good look around and noticed that among the huge forest of trees ahead were some apple trees. "Well ah'll be, they got apple trees here."

By now everyone was looking over to where the Honest Pony was pointing, and the sight made the Ponies smile.

"So which one of us shall go over there?" The Generous Unicorn asked.

"I'll go." Link volunteered.

"Ah'll go with ya, yer gonna need some help carrying all them apples."

He nodded, seeing no harm in bringing her along.

"Wait what about the rest of us?" Rainbow asked.

The Hylian looked forward and noticed what looked like a giant hollowed out log, which would be great for shelter. "The five of you head to that log and wait for us there."

While the two of them went off the five Ponies continued forward. They would have objected about being left alone, but figured there was no real point in doing so. So far the only real danger they encountered was that Chuchu, but that didn't really count. And as long as they stayed inside of that log then there wasn't anything to worry about.

* * *

Link and Applejack had walked around the log and set a course for the apple trees. Luckily there were a good amount on the outskirts of the forest, so they wouldn't have to stray too far from the others. And once they had the apples they needed they could easily get back to the others. While that was all well and good there was something wrong though, it wasn't major, but still prominent. The journey was made in complete silence.

The farm-Pony could practically feel the awkwardness in the air. Back in Clock Town when she said he wasn't much of a talker she didn't think much of it, but now she was. Sure, there were times when a situation called for seriousness, but this wasn't one of them. All they were doing was getting apples, yet he was treating this like a serious matter. _'Maybe that's just who he is.'_ She told herself.

She then figured that he probably wasn't used to having company on his adventures, and maybe he had trouble making friends. Well, as long as she and her friends were traveling with him she was going change that. "So... yer some kind o' hero?"

He nodded.

"Ya seem a little young ta be a hero, so why did ya become one?"

"It wasn't up to me." The Hylian answered cryptically.

Another awkward silence followed as the farm-Pony scratched her head in confusion, having no idea what he meant. She looked back over to him to try and get a read on his facial expressions, but found it very hard to do so. Normally she could easily tell if somepony was lying or not, but with Link she had no clue. She then cleared her throat, all the while deciding to change the subject. She also made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"What's the deal with those marks on your flank."

To her surprise it was he who asked a question. She was a little stunned but quickly shrugged it off, not wanting to waste the opportunity to have a conversation. "It's mah Cutie Mark." The mare could tell he was confused. "Cutie Marks represent a Pony's special talent." She explained.

He nodded once again. "What do the others' Cutie Marks represent?" Link had a feeling he knew what her Mark meant, which explained why she out of all of them wanted to go collect apples.

"Twilight's represents her magical abilities, and trust me, she's a natural. Rarity's represents her love of fashion and making all sorts of fancy dresses with tons of jewels. Fluttershy's means she loves animals and takin' care of em. Rainbow Dash loves ta fly fast, and that's how she got her Mark. And Pinkie Pie loves throwin' parties, and nopony can throw a party like she can."

Link took all of that information in, as it told him about each Pony's strengths. He then looked over to her. "What exactly are the Elements of Harmony." Back in Clock Town she mentioned that they used them to protect their home, but that was it. And when they confronted the Skull Kid he noticed the strange crown, which turned out to be the stolen Element. He was genuinely curious as to how a weird crown could protect anything.

"The Elements of Harmony are a powerful 'weapon' that mah friends and ah use ta protect our home. Our Elements represent a characteristic about ourselves. Mine is Honesty, Rarity's is Generosity, Rainbow Dash is Loyalty, Fluttershy is Kindness, Pinkie Pie is Laughter, and Twilight is Magic. When we all wear our necklaces, except for Twi who wears a crown, we can call upon the friendship between us and take down any evil." The blonde mare explained with pride.

Hearing that made the Hero of Time think a little deeply. The Elements of Harmony were just like the Triforce, or the Master Sword, as both were used to protect their respective lands. And the fact that he was traveling with the Bearers of the Elements made him feel a little at ease. Having a powerful weapon around was always a good thing, and while he had no idea how powerful the Elements were it was still better than nothing. "Thank you."

She raised a curious brow. "Uh, yer welcome." She wasn't quite sure why he thanked her. Well, she figured it was because she answered his question, but the Pony suspected there was another reason.

After a while the duo reached the edge of the forest, which came as a bit of a surprise. They both figured it would have taken longer, but then again, they been been spending a good amount of time talking. So in the end they didn't question it. All that mattered was that they could now get some food for everybody.

Link glanced up and noticed that the apples were _way_ up in the trees, which were already tall to begin with. And since he figured Applejack couldn't climb it was up to him. The Hylian put a hand to his chin as he thought of the best way to do so.

Beside him Applejack noticed he was deep in thought, most likely trying to think of a way to climb up the tree. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she walked up to the tree. "Just leave it ta me Link." The tree was taller than the ones back home, but that didn't really matter. The Earth Pony turned around and bucked the tree with all her might, causing it to shake violently.

A few seconds later it started raining apples, and there were tons of them. They were all Macintosh apples.

"Yeehaw!" The farm-Pony yelled in excitement. She may have been in an unknown land filled with danger, but at the moment she felt right at home.

The Hero of Time stared at her with wide eyes, having not expected that to happen. His Pony companion clearly had a lot of strength to be able to do that, and that was saying something because he wasn't sure he could do that.

"Why are ya so surprised?" Applejack then realized she never explained what her Cutie Mark meant, and she started to feel a little silly. "Oh, right. Back home ah live on an orchard, and mah family harvests apples fer a livin'. Yep, ah've been doin' this sorta thing pretty much all mah life." She then picked up one of the apples and took a bite out of it. "Hm, not quite as good as a Sweet Apple Acres apple, but still pretty tasty."

Link also took a bite and found himself enjoying the taste, especially since this was the first thing he had eaten all day. The two of them took a moment to savor their respective apples. Once finished they each threw the cores away.

"Well, ah'll buck some more trees and we can put all these here apples in mah saddlebags."

He nodded as he began picking up the fallen apples. He was now glad that she came with as he didn't think he could carry all of these himself. Sure he had his inventory bag, but that wasn't really meant for carrying food, even if that food was apples.

After bucking several more trees the mare simply waited for him to put them all in her bag. If she truly were back home then there would be baskets in place to catch the fallen apples, but alas this wasn't the case. Luckily it seemed like he could carry a lot of them at a time, so they wouldn't be standing around for a long time. And after a few moments both sides of her saddlebag were filled with food. "This should last us a while." She joked.

The Hylian nodded in agreement.

"Well, ah guess we should head back now."

Just then there was a loud howl in the distance, one that pierced the otherwise quiet evening.

"What in the hay was that?" Applejack questioned, all the while shaking lightly.

"Wolfos." Link muttered.

It took only a second for the mare to realize where the howl came from, and by the time she did she noticed Link was already heading off in that direction. She also noticed Tatl, who had been inside his hat(most likely sleeping), was now accompanying him. "Wait fer me!" She called out as she followed after him.

* * *

 _Earlier...  
_

After getting to the natural shelter the Ponies took a moment to rest. They had been on their hooves all day, and they didn't realize how tired they were. And while they were hungry it was nice to be able to sit and rest.

"All of this walking is ruining my hooves. It'll take several Pony-pedis just to fix them. Not to mention my tail has accumulated so much dust and dirt." Rarity complained.

"Aw it's not so bad Rarity." Pinkie smiled. "This is kinda fun."

Fluttershy took a peak out from their shelter, noticing that the day wouldn't last much longer. "How long do you think it'll take Link and Applejack to get back?"

The cyan mare shrugged. "I dunno, I just hope it's soon." She stated.

Now that they were alone, at least away from Link, Twilight decided now was a good time to talk. "So... how does everypony feel about Link?" The Alicorn had a feeling that her friends didn't feel the most comfortable around him, which was understandable. They did just meet and they knew next to nothing about him. And while it felt wrong to talk about somepony behind their back she felt it necessary in this case... but she definitely wouldn't make a habit out of it.

"He seems nice." The pink-maned Pegasus answered with a smile.

"I will say that he does pull of wearing green, and he has such a lovely skirt."

Twilight glanced at her Unicorn friend confused. "I don't think that's a skirt Rarity." She told her with a slight chuckle.

The Unicorn frowned. "Oh... well, I guess it's an okay outfit." It was rather simple, but sometimes the simplest outfits were the best. Well... she personally loved the most extravagant dresses she could create, but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate something simple. Besides, she could see why he wore something simple. It just wouldn't make sense to wear something elegant on a world saving adventure, as the outfit would certainly get ruined in no time at all.

"I don't know, I don't really trust him... or that Fairy." Rainbow stated, not concerned by the reactions she was sure she would receive.

"Rainbow Dash, how can you say that?" The lavender Pony asked.

She once again shrugged. "We don't know anything about him!"

"But he's a hero!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

"And he helped us get Twilight's crown back." Fluttershy added.

"Listen Rainbow, I know he's a stranger, but I don't think we have anything to fear. He accepted our help when he didn't have to, and he hasn't done anything so far to make us mistrust him."

The pink Pony then got right into her doubting friend's face. "Not to mention he saved me from that Chuchu!"

Hearing all of that evidence made the cyan Pegasus sigh lightly. "I guess you're right, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad will happen."

All of a sudden a loud howl was heard, and it made everypony cling to one another tightly.

"You mean like that?" The Generous Unicorn asked.

"Yeah."

They stayed huddled together for several moments, all of them hoping that it was just some random noise. And so they all waited to see what, if anything, was coming to them. After all, a howl that loud had to have come from some terrifying beast. After a few moments of nothing they figured they were in the clear, but that didn't mean the coast was entirely clear.

Slowly they broke apart the sudden embrace and walked toward the other side of the log. They peaked their heads out slowly to see if the coast was clear, and at first it looked like it was... until they caught sight of a big black and grey beast.

Said beast walked on four razor sharp claws. Its eyes were a solid greenish yellow, making it look all the more intense. A tongue stuck out of its mouth, which was filled with razor sharp teeth. It reminded them of a Timber Wolf, except somehow much worse. And all in all it looked very savage, like it would rip them to shreds without hesitation.

The beast caught sight of its next meal and slowly approached the cowering horses.

While the Ponies were all huddled together in fear Fluttershy stood firm. "Fluttershy what are you doing?!" Twilight yelled.

"Don't worry girls, it's just an animal." She assured them.

"That's not some animal darling, it's a beast!"

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, look at the sharp claws and teeth!"

Despite their worries the shy mare wasn't intimidated. After all, every animal just needed to be shown a little kindness. And so she slowly approached the vicious beast. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."

The beast still kept inching toward her, not at all caring for the sweet look on her face.

"That's it." She encouraged.

Once close enough the beast did something truly terrifying, it stood up on its hind legs. That was accompanied by the same howl as before.

And it was at that moment that Fluttershy realized that it didn't want to be shown kindness. She would have run, but her body froze from fear. All she could do was close her eyes and hope the end wasn't painful.

Everypony wanted to run and help, but they were all too scared. So they shut their eyes tight, not wanting to watch.

Time seemed to slow down as the beast slashed at the horse with one of its claws, but instead of clawing the horse's face it just barely grazed it.

Everypony slowly opened their eyes to reveal that their friend was fine, having been saved by Link.

Fluttershy too opened her eyes to see that the hero had saved her. "Link, you saved me."

He got up off of her. "Thank me later." He told her as he drew his sword and shield. "Get back to the log!"

As she stood up she noticed the scratch marks on his right arm, most likely from pushing her out of the way. "But..."

"Go!"

Faster than she thought possible she sprinted to her friends, and once she reached them she never wanted to leave them again.

"Thank goodness you're alright." Rarity noted.

"I'm sorry... I thought I..."

Twilight put a comforting hoof onto her friend. "It's okay, you didn't know."

"Yeah that's great and all, but what do we do about that thing?" Rainbow questioned.

They all turned and noticed Link was already fighting it. Tatl was also there, but she was positioned near the beast, as to why was unknown.

Applejack came running toward them a few seconds later. "Did y'all here that scream?" She looked as they pointed behind her, making her turn around. "What in the name of Celestia is that?!"

Nopony had an answer, and instead they just stood there and watched the ensuing fight.

Link raised his shield and blocked the Wolfos' claw, as well as the second one. He then lowered his guard slightly and thrust with his sword, only for the beast to avoid it. Thanks to Tatl's assistance he could keep track of the Wolfos at all times, and it was most helpful for when it started circling him. Glancing to his right he noticed it was going to swipe at him, but he hopped to the side to avoid it. He then swung his blade downwards, but his opponent managed to block it with its forearms, so at best he only managed to give it a cut.

The Wolfos continued circling its prey, unaffected by the previous cut. It swiped its claws some more, but couldn't make it past the shield. Despite the strong defense the beast wasn't about to give up.

Meanwhile the Hero of Time was trying to get to the weak spot, which were its chest and back. He blocked another strike before taking a few steps backward. He noticed that whenever the Wolfos struck it was quick to defend itself, so if he could get it to make a mistake he could finish it off. His chance came when he dropped his guard, daring the beast to attack.

Everypony watched with fear as the beast swiped at their companion with both claws, one right after the other, spinning itself around in the process. Their fears turned to complete shock as Link back-flipped out of the way.

Link wasted no time and jumped forward, all the while swinging his sword downward. With a mighty yell he slashed the Wolfos down its back, making it howl in pain. He watched as it glowed red for a second before disintegrating into blue flames. Once the blue flames vanished the only thing left behind was a Deku Nut. He put his sword and shield away and put the Deku Nut in his pocket.

With that done he turned back to the Ponies, who's eyes were wide and their jaws were dropped.

Never before had they seen such a fight, it was incredible. That beast didn't look like a pushover, but that didn't stop Link. He was in complete control, and he wasn't even afraid!

The silence was broken by Tatl. "What?"

"That... was AWESOME!" Rainbow cheered. "You just totally beat that... whatever that thing was."

"It was a Wolfos." The Fairy explained.

"Ah must admit, ya sure can fight." Applejack noted.

Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah you really showed him who's boss!"

While they may have been excited the shy mare glanced down at the ground. "You didn't have to kill it." She muttered. Sure it was about to kill her, but the last thing she wanted was for it to die. Even the wildest animals could be tamed, even if said animal didn't seem reachable.

Twilight also frowned. Of course she was happy the Wolfos had been taken care of, but that didn't mean she approved of murder. Well, technically he didn't _really_ kill it, since there was no body left behind, but she assumed that what she saw counted as murder. The mare wasn't about to start hating Link, especially since he had saved their lives. On the other hoof there could have been other ways of achieving victory.

"Look," He began, getting their collective attention almost instantly. "things might be different in your world, but you need to understand that if I hadn't defeated that Wolfos it would have killed you all. There's going to be more beasts and monsters out there, and the only way to stop them is to kill them."

They all simply shared some uneasy glances. Back in Equestria murder _never_ happened, not at all. They saw no need for any kind of violence or destruction. But apparently in this world it was a common thing, probably even a regular occurrence. That meant they were going to get into even more situations like the previous one, and they all had a feeling that showing a monster kindness and friendship wouldn't work. It made them all feel a little sick. Yet as much as it disturbed them they weren't about to turn tail and run, no, they said they were going to help Link and that was what they were going to do. Besides, nopony said it was going to be easy.

"HEY!" Tatl yelled, snapping everypony out of their collective thoughts. "The sun's going down, and it's going to get dark soon really quickly."

Glancing upwards revealed that the Fairy was right. "Wow, time sure goes by quickly in this world." Pinkie noted.

Twilight then turned to Link. "Do you think we should keep moving, or should we set up camp here?"

Before answering he glanced up at his Fairy.

"If you thought that Wolfos was scary you don't want to know what you'll find in the dark."

"So camping here it is then?" The Alicorn questioned with a nervous grin.

He nodded.

It was then that the Ponies caught sight of his arm. "Link your arm!" The pink Pony shouted.

He glanced over to it and noticed the big claw marks, which were bleeding slightly. While it was pretty painful he didn't really show it.

Fluttershy looked over to the Alicorn. "Don't you have any healing spells?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Hm, I have done a little reading on healing magic." She called upon her magic and opened the right side of her saddlebag, and shortly after she pulled out a rather large book. She levitated it in front of her and flipped through the pages, trying to remember which one it was. After finding it she quickly re-read the spell and put the book away. "Show me your wound."

He held out his arm in front of her.

Taking a deep breath, the lavender mare's horn once again started glowing. She pointed it at his cuts and soon enough a golden light started appearing around his wound. For several seconds the light pulsated, and soon enough the wound was starting to heal. The blood dried up, and the skin started putting itself back together. After a few moments his wound was gone, as if it had never been there before. "There, that should do it." Twilight smiled before wiping some sweat from her brow.

Link stared at it in awe for a few seconds, amazed with how quickly she healed him. Once again, the Ponies' abilities were going to be a great help. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Her smile increased slightly.

"Alright, well, now we just need to get some firewood." The Honest Earth Pony stated.

"I'm on it!" In an instant Rainbow Dash's wings spread open and she zoomed off to the forest, leaving behind a rainbow colored streak.

Both the Hylian and the Fairy stared at the display with wide eyes, although it was harder to tell with Tatl. One moment she was there, and the next she was gone. She had moved so fast that they didn't even see it.

Beside them Rarity smirked. "They don't call her the Fastest Flyer in Equestria for nothing."

 _'Incredible, her speed is like nothing I've ever seen. That'll certainly help us.'_ The Hero of Time thought to himself.

Not a moment later the cyan mare returned with a bunch of sticks and a few logs. "I think this should be good." She joked as she tossed them onto the ground.

Once they had the firewood Link went around and picked up some rocks to place around them, and he had just enough to make a circle.

As he did that Applejack got to work lighting the fire, a feat that impressed Link.

After all that was done the group had a roaring fire, which they were all sitting around. The farm-Pony revealed what was for dinner, and everpony's mouths watered at the sight of all the apples. And now they were all eating the delicious fruits, finding enjoyment in the situation. It had been a long day of travel, so it was nice to be able to sit down and relax.

Fortunately Applejack gathered a ton of apples, so there were enough for everypony to eat until they felt full, and then have some for the morning. Of course, they would have to eventually get more, but since they were heading that way anyway it wasn't a problem.

"Mmm, these apples are deeeelicious!" The pink Pony proclaimed as she rapidly ate another one.

"I have to agree." Rarity said.

Rainbow Dash, who still had apple in her mouth, decided now was a good time to discuss a plan. "So who's gonna keep watch tonight?"

Almost instantly Link raised his hand.

All eye fell on him shortly after. "Ya sure about that?" The orange mare questioned.

"We could take shifts." The shy Pegasus suggested.

Twilight smiled at the suggestion. "Nice idea Fluttershy." She told her, making her smile brightly. "How about you take the first shift, and I'll take the second one."

While he wanted to do it by himself he realized that staying awake all night wouldn't do him any favors, so he relented, giving a nod of approval.

"Ah guess ah can take the third shift, ah'm used ta gettin' up early."

Since nopony had any objections, they let their Honest friend have it. Rarity wanted her beauty sleep, Fluttershy would be too scared to keep watch, Pinkie could have gone either way, and Rainbow was just lazy, so it all worked out.

"Wait, what are we going to sleep on?" The Generous Unicorn.

"Uh, the ground." The cyan mare stated.

A frown appeared on Rarity's face after hearing that. "But it's so dirty!"

Her friends, minus Pinkie, all groaned. Of course she had to complain.

Luckily, the pink-maned Pony had a solution. "Don't worry Rarity, you can sleep on this picnic blanket I brought!" She smiled as she dug her head into one side of her saddlebag, and seconds later she had a blanket in her teeth, which she threw to her friend.

Tatl raised an eyebrow. "Why did you bring that?"

"In case we were gonna have a spontaneous picnic, duh!"

The Fairy stared at her blankly before shaking her head. "Let me get this straight. You brought a blanket because you thought you were going to have a picnic, but you didn't bring any food for it?"

"I can't have all the answers." The pink Pony smiled.

Tatl stayed there for a few moments, trying to comprehend what just happened. _'That is the strangest horse I've ever met... I hope she doesn't go crazy on us.'_

With a blanket to sleep on the Unicorn was content. She still had to sleep with no kind of shelter over her, but at least she wasn't sleeping on the filthy grass and dirt.

Everypony else had no problems lying on the grass, and got comfortable rather quickly.

Tatl flew inside her companion's hat, finding it nice for sleeping.

Link remained sitting on the ground, simply staring into the fire.

"Good night girls." Twilight told her friends.

"Night."

"Nighty night!"

"See y'all in the mornin'."

"I better not wake up covered in dirt."

As Fluttershy was about to fall asleep she looked toward Link and smiled at him. "Thank you again for saving me." She said, barely above a whisper.

Thanks to his rather large ears he heard her clearly, and he nodded at her in response.

The Alicorn watched as her friends drifted off to sleep. Right as she was about to do so she stole one last glance at Link, who still had a serious expression on his face. A small frown came onto her face at the sight, as to why she didn't know. "Hey," She called out, making him turn to her. "good night."

He nodded at her.

A sigh escaped her lips. This whole journey he hadn't really talked much, and when he did it was either brief or about something serious. She only hoped that over time he would open up to them. _'Hm, I wonder if he talked with Applejack at all during their trip. I guess I'll ask her when I wake her up.'_ These thoughts lingered in her mind as a yawn left her mouth. There would be time to think about this during her shift, and if she was going to watch over her friends she needed all the rest she could get. Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

This looks like a good place to stop. This is a pretty long chapter, the longest yet, so that's a plus. I did expand the size of Termina Field greatly, because I thought it would be better to have them go on a long journey. So the Ponies caught a glimpse of the world, some of the enemies they will face, and learned about Rupees. Next they'll be heading to the Swamp, so that should be fun. Be sure to R&R and have a wonderful day!

FutureShock


	5. Southern Swamp

Chapter Five: Southern Swamp

All was peaceful and quiet in Termina Field, as the horrifying moon hung high in the sky. The temperature had dropped, not by a lot but it was definitely colder. The winds that blew only served to make it that much chillier. Luckily there was a roaring campfire, that not only served to warm the group but also provide some light, and possibly ward off any creatures that may or may not be lurking around. While it was rather quiet there was certainly still noise. The rustling of the leaves, some distant hooting, and the soft yet prominent flapping of wings, most likely Keese.

Link sat on the ground, leaning against the side of the log that he and the Ponies called shelter. His eyes were transfixed on the fire, but they would occasionally fall on either side of the log. He also made sure to keep his guard up, and he would more often than not briefly glance in whatever direction a close by noise came from. Perhaps he was being overly cautious, but he didn't really care. The safety of himself, Tatl, and the Ponies were very important, hence why he volunteered to keep watch in the first place. The Hylian wasn't trying to doubt his new companions, but he was used to something like this. Also, judging by how they reacted to the Wolfos incident they appeared to be a little fragile.

As he sat he began thinking over what Applejack told him, more specifically about her friends. They were all different, and each had her own strengths and weaknesses. Twilight was obviously the most powerful, given her talent was magic. Rainbow Dash was _incredibly_ fast, but she had a tendency to complain quite a bit. Rarity also had a tendency to complain, which she had done multiple times so far, and they weren't even that reasonable... plus her interests in clothing didn't strike him as useful. Applejack was strong, strong enough to get the apples from a very tall tree, so that would come in handy. Fluttershy was soft spoken, and very kind. She supposedly had a way with animals, yet it seemed she couldn't handle a Wolfos, but he wasn't about to blame her for what happened. Lastly there was Pinkie Pie... and he honestly had no clue what to make of her. She seemed to always be in a good mood, even when being inside a Chuchu, but at the same time she was a bit of a mystery. Her love of parties also seemed useless, although he figured it could be good in boosting morale.

His brow slightly furrowed as he contemplated how the journey would go. They all seemed nice, but that could only go so far. He had a good feeling that things would only get more difficult from here on out, and he wasn't sure if they were all ready to handle it. Sure, some of them would fair better than others, but they were a team. Even if there were a few weak links they were all in this together. Besides, they all made it this far, even if there were some complaints, and that was something.

Maybe he was being a little too critical. He had after all just met them, and he had no clue what surprises, if any, they had in store. It wouldn't be right to just label them as useless after only the first day. They obviously put their faith in him, and so he had to do the same for them. The Hero of Time only hoped that when the time came they would be ready. A sigh then escaped his lips as he turned his attention back to the fire.

A couple of hours went by, although it was a little hard to tell for the Hylian. He let out a small yawn before standing up. As much as he wanted to stay up and keep watch he knew his shift was over. And so he walked over to Twilight and started shaking her.

"...Sorry Princess Celestia, Spike ate my friendship report." Twilight's eyes slowly started to open, and soon enough she was awake. She let out a big yawn. "Huh, Link?"

"It's your shift."

Another yawn escaped her lips as she slowly got up. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleepiness out of them. While she may have been tired she had agreed to keep watch second, and that's just what she was going to do. "I'm guessing nothing happened during your watch right?" She questioned.

He shook his head no.

"Alright well," The mare yawned. "you get some rest, you certainly need it."

Link nodded at her before removing his sword and shield from his back, and then leaned them up against the log. With that done he turned to the Alicorn. "If something happens, or you hear something wake me up immediately." He said in a serious tone.

"Right." Twilight nodded as she watched him lie down. "Goodnight Link."

"Goodnight." With that he rolled onto one side, curled up slightly, and closed his eyes.

The Alicorn let out a small sigh. _'Well at least he said a little more this time.'_ She wasn't sure if he was just a naturally quiet person, or if something happened to make him like that, but either way it made her frown. Perhaps he was just a little shy around unfamiliar Ponies. That's how Twilight used to be... but that was before she learned the magic of friendship. And now she had plenty of friends.

She had a feeling though that after a while he would warm up to her and her friends, and maybe then it wouldn't be so... awkward? No. Tense, yes, that's it. It wasn't as if they were walking on eggshells, but she could tell that he viewed this as a very serious matter. Of course it was serious, but that didn't mean they couldn't take it a little easy. A laugh or too could really brighten the mood on the dark adventure. For now though she would just have to wait and see, and hopefully get him to open up a bit.

Needing something to do in order to help stay awake, the lavender mare pulled a book out of her saddlebag. It was her spell book, which she had brought along with her in case she needed it. And now she was very thankful she had brought it, considering what happened earlier with the Wolfos. Twilight figured they would have first aid, or healing potions here, but seeing as how they didn't bring any with them healing magic was a blessing. She had never really used healing magic before, so it was important that she learn all she can about it.

Her book contained a lot more spells than just healing. There were quite a variety of spells, both offensive and defensive. Since things were relatively peaceful in Equestria, and because Ponies frowned upon violence, she never really learned many offensive spells. Now though she and her friends were in a whole new land, with new sets of dangers. And if any more Wolfos, or any other dangerous creatures attacked, then they would need all the weapons they could get. Hopefully Link was exaggerating a little when he said it would be more dangerous, but either way the Alicorn wanted to be ready just in case.

And so Twilight spent her shift reading her spell book, making sure to check her surroundings in case a creature was trying to sneak up on them. She made sure to mark the pages with the most useful spells, and then she would return to them later and really practice them. She would have practiced them now, but she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the group, plus she was tired. Not to mention it might wake her friends, which was also a good reason to hold off on the practice.

Her eyelids were starting to get heavy, and a big yawn escaped her lips. Nothing interesting had happened, not that she was complaining. The Princess would take a nice peaceful night over getting attacked by a horrifying creature any day. And it was nice to be able to just relax, read some of her book, and occasionally look at the stars. It was interesting noting the different constellations, and just how many stars were in the sky... especially that really bright red one. At some point she would have to learn the constellations in Termina's sky, but now wasn't the time.

After a few more hours the mare decided it was time to wake Applejack up for her shift. She walked over and gently shook her friend.

A couple of seconds later Applejack roused from her slumber. "Oh, howdy Twilight."

"It's time for your shift." She told her friend while stiffening a yawn.

The farm-Pony nodded as she stood up. "Ah'm guessin' nothin' happened while you were awake?"

"No, it was pretty," Twilight yawned. "boring."

"Well, that's good ta hear." She noted.

"By the way, how was your walk with Link earlier?" The Alicorn figured now was the best time to ask, even if her body didn't agree with her.

Stiffening her own yawn, Applejack stretched her sore muscles. "It was fine. Didn't talk much at first, but then he asked me about our Cutie Marks, and then we really started talkin'; asked about the Elements of Harmony too."

Twilight rubbed her eyes, too tired to properly convey her excitement. "Anything else?"

"No, but ah figured what little we talked about was better than nothin'." She could tell her friend was a little worried about Link being so silent on their journey. "Don't ya worry sugarcube, he probably just needs time ta adjust ta bein' around so many Ponies. Just give him a little bit, and ah'll bet he becomes more relaxed than a dog on a summer's eve." Applejack offered.

Twilight nodded before heading over to her spot. "I'll see you in the morning. Oh, and if anything happens wake Link up." With the message delivered she collapsed onto the ground and went back to sleep.

Once she was alone Applejack let out a small sigh. In a fit of curiosity she stepped outside of the log and glanced up at the sky, and the sight made her gasp lightly. While she wasn't as big on astronomy as Twilight she could still enjoy the starry nights, especially if a meteor shower was happening. And beside the scary looking moon the sky was beautiful. Thousands of stars filled the dark sky, all of which shined brightly. It truly was a beautiful sight, although she had forgotten all of those fancy constellations. Too bad that creepy moon was up there, almost as if it were staring down on her. _'Ah sure am glad Luna ain't here, she would go in a frenzy if she saw somepony usin' her moon fer evil.'_ A slight chuckle escaped her lips at the thought, well, it was mostly the thought of the Princess beating up the Skull Kid.

Those thoughts stuck with her for a little bit before her mind wandered back to the task at hoof. When she and her friends first came here they were just supposed to bring the stolen Element back, that was all. Now though they were following a surprisingly heroic little boy through an unknown land trying to set things right and stop the Skull Kid. It was all certainly unexpected, and if she were honest with herself, which she always was, she was a little scared. She and her friends had been through a lot together, and it didn't seem like there was anything that they couldn't overcome together... but this was something else.

Instead of helping a friend see when they're being too hotheaded, or when somepony wasn't getting along with somepony else, or when a friend has a problem but her other friends don't see it as a problem, when in fact it is a problem... they were now going on a big quest to save the world! Not just that, but she had no idea how they were going to accomplish that. Obviously they had to stop the Skull Kid, but he's just so powerful and they aren't. So unless there was a magic way of getting stronger, or finding useful items in pretty bizarre places, she and the others were up a creek.

Her brow furrowed, and she shook her head. All of this negative thinking wasn't helpful. Staying positive was the key here, and they certainly were going to need a lot of it. Besides, she and her friends had accomplished the seemingly impossible before, so why not now? Also, they were traveling with somepony who had experience in this kind of thing... she assumed he did anyway.

This brought her to Link, who was still a bit of a mystery. He was quiet, kept to himself, and was totally serious during the whole day. She had managed to have a conversation with him, but it was a little brief. Yet he was also brave and noble, having put himself into harms way to save Fluttershy. The farm-Pony may not know much about him, but she supposed he couldn't be all bad, and saving her friend was a great start. It was as she was saying to Twilight earlier, he probably just needed time to adjust to the situation.

She then let out a soft sigh as she sat down upon the ground. _'Looks like ah've got a long night ahead of me.'_

* * *

Link's eyes slowly fluttered open upon hearing the crowing of a rooster, as to where that rooster was he had no idea, and he was too sleepy to care at the moment. As he started to wake up he noticed some of his companions were also getting up, and others appeared to still be asleep. The Hero of Time sat up, did some light stretching, and then yawned rather loudly.

Applejack, who had been nearby snacking on an apple, heard the yawn. "Mornin' Link!" She greeted with a wave.

He nodded back at her before standing up, again doing some stretching. Aside from feeling a little sleepy he was ready to go, but seeing as how the others were still in that process he held off on that. Besides, he was kind of hungry, and how could he run off without having some breakfast? And so the Hylian walked over to the orange Earth Pony as she held the apples.

A smile came to her face as he approached. "Feelin' hungry?" She asked with a slight chuckle.

"Most of the time I'm too busy to eat, so I might as well enjoy being able to have some breakfast." He explained as he grabbed an apple and took a bite.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie had also woken up, and they too gathered around the Honest mare for a bite to eat.

As the Hero of Time ate he saw Pinkie smiling at him, prompting him to raise an eyebrow.

"Good morning Link, did you sleep well? I sure hope so because I slept like a filly even though I wasn't lying on a bed and it was slightly cold on the ground and at one point my back started to itch a little so I had just had to scratch it and then I think a bug bit me on my hoof but it's okay because it doesn't itch as much as my back did and I'm just super excited to continue our adventure!"

His eyes were like saucers, and his mind was kicking into overdrive just trying to process all of what the pink Pony had said. Unfortunately she talked way too fast and he just couldn't keep up with it all. He could recall her question about his sleep, but that was about it.

Beside him the Alicorn let out a small laugh. "Don't worry about her Link, she's always hyper."

"Not always, but I'd say most of the time!" The pink Pony smiled.

He merely nodded before returning to his apple, all the while trying to put his brain back together.

Twilight took another bite of her apple before turning to the Hylian. "So how far away is the Swamp from here?"

Link shrugged in response.

"Do you have a map?" The Alicorn asked, hoping that the answer was yes.

He shook his head no.

In response to that she groaned. "How are we supposed to navigate the Swamp if we don't have a map?!" It wasn't entirely his fault, seeing as how neither she nor her friends had a map, but she thought a hero such as himself would have come prepared.

"Don't worry Twilight, we may not have a map but ah'm sure Tatl might know where ta go." As much as she didn't like to admit it, she figured Tatl had a good sense of direction. Her feelings toward the Fairy hadn't changed much, which was normal considering it had only been a day. Yet she was trying to put her feelings aside, and this was a great place to start.

Seeing what she was getting at, the Hylian lifted up his hat, revealing the Fairy sleeping upon his head. He noticed the Ponies smiling at the sight, as to why he had no clue. He then shook his head, rousing his companion from her slumber.

Tatl started to wake up before flying right into her partner's face. "This had better be good, I was in the middle of a great dream!"

"We'll be leaving soon, and we'll need your help navigating through the Swamp." Link explained.

"Ugh fine." She then noticed a few of the Ponies were still asleep, and if she couldn't sleep then neither could they. So she flew over to each of them and gave them bumps on their heads. "Hey wake up you lazy horses we have to get a move on!"

A loud groan escaped Rainbow's mouth at having been woken up so abruptly. Her eyes were like slits as she glanced around, noticing that most of her friends were already awake. "Ugh, what time is it?" She asked with a yawn.

"It's early, and we need to get going!" Tatl explained.

Rarity sat up and removed the sleeping mask from her face. "Do we really have to leave now, I need a few more hours to catch up on my beauty sleep." The Unicorn stated.

The Fairy groaned loudly. "You can have your beauty sleep when the Skull Kid makes the Moon crash into Termina and we all die in a fiery explosion!"

"G-goodness!" Fluttershy gasped, all the while shaking. "Are we r-really gonna... d-die?!"

"We will if we have to wait for everyone to get their _beauty sleep_." Tatl said in an exaggerated manner.

The purple-maned Unicorn glared at the Fairy, but she could see her point. So with a huff she stood up. "Very well, but if something happens to my beautiful coat it'll be your fault!"

Tatl rolled her eyes, even though the annoying Pony couldn't see it.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her empty stomach. "Can we at least eat first?"

Before the Fairy could say anything Link cut her off. "Yes, you'll all need your strength." He then glanced up at his companion and shot her a small glare. They were supposed to be working together, not arguing over sleep. Did he agree with the Fairy, yes, but there were other ways to wake someone up.

Everypony took some apples and began eating them, taking the time do so despite the Fairy's objections. If today was like yesterday then they all had a long journey ahead of them, and they were going to need the energy. Not just that, but breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and they certainly couldn't just skip it.

Link also had an apple or two, figuring now was as good a time as any to eat. As he ate he began thinking of what to do next. Obviously they were continuing down the path toward the Swamp, but he wasn't exactly sure what to do when they got there. All he knew was that someone there needed help, but as to who and what that was he had no idea. Despite that he figured it wasn't going to be too difficult to do, especially when he had six Ponies with him.

After several moments they each finished their respective breakfasts, and were now ready to get a move on.

Twilight stood next to her friends. "Alright girls, let's go." She said as she noticed Link was already moving.

The group left the relative safety of the giant log and continued forward. It was a little chilly, but other than that they were fine. There wasn't much in the way of obstacles, and the terrain was very much the same. In the distance, way off to the left were a couple of lone barren trees, a Chuchu, some bats, a rather large bird, and two pillars with a banner across, almost like an entrance to someplace. They also noticed the sun was slowly rising, which brought a question to their minds.

"So, uh, who raises the sun around here?" The Alicorn questioned.

Link paused and turned back to face the Ponies, feeling genuinely confused.

When he didn't answer, Applejack spoke up. "Ya know, the Pony who brings the sun up each and every morning?"

Still no answer.

Tatl flew in front of her confused partner. "I don't know what you Ponies are talking about, there's no one raising the sun here." She explained.

Everypony gasped, and it felt as though their jaws were going to hit the ground. "So how does the sun move?" Rainbow asked.

"By itself." The Fairy told her.

Once again the Ponies gasped. To them, the idea of a Pony raising and lowering the sun via magic made total sense... but that wasn't the case in this world. No, apparently there wasn't anypony who brought on the new day, which was very shocking.

This information confused Twilight most of all. "B-but, the Skull Kid is controlling the Moon with magic!" She exclaimed, earning nods of agreement from her friends.

"Yes, but the Moon didn't used to do that!"

Link could tell the Ponies were still in shock, but there were more important matters to attend to. "We should keep moving." While he could understand that things worked differently in their world it wasn't important enough to worry about... at least to the point of stopping entirely. Of course, he had been the one who initially paused, but still.

Everypony exchanged slightly uneasy glances before realizing he was right, and so they continued to follow him. There would be time to ponder how the sun and moon worked later.

They continued onward toward the forest, and at the rate they were going it wasn't long before they reached the edge. There were two big pillars jutting out of the ground, spread apart by several yards. There was also a sign pointing to the left, with words written upon it.

"What does it say?" The Princess asked, as she was unable to read it.

"This way to Romani Ranch. Please visit the home of Chateau Romani." The Hero of Time read.

"Ooh, can we go there?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

Rarity placed a hoof onto her eager friend. "Perhaps later dear, we still have a job to do."

The pink mare let out a small giggle. "Oh yeah."

"Hey where's Tatl?" Fluttershy asked.

Everypony searched around before noticing she had flown over to a barren tree, which was directly behind a Deku Flower. Curious as to what she was looking at they all walked towards her. The tree itself wasn't anything special, but there was something on the front of it. It appeared to be a crude drawing of the Skull Kid, minus the mask, as well as Tatl and the other Fairy.

"Oh! I remember this! Tael and I drew this with the Skull Kid when we first met him... He told us that he had been fighting with his friends and that they had left him all alone..."

Hearing that made the Ponies all gasp lightly, having not expected that. It was hard to imagine somepony like the Skull Kid having friends. They wanted to comment, but decided to hold off, as it looked like the Fairy was about to tell a story.

Tatl went on to explain how she and her brother were out in Termina Field during a storm, and had gone into the huge log for shelter. Inside the shelter they noticed a child sitting all alone in the log, shivering in the cold. She and her brother had gone over to him and introduced themselves, and they learned he had recently fought with his friends. The Fairies then decided to stay with the Skull Kid, and so they all huddled together in the storm. Once the storm had passed the three had stuck together, having formed a slight bond in the storm. Their friendship would only grow as they spent more time together, playing in the fields of Termina, and eventually displaying their friendship with a drawing on a tree.

"I'm sure it was because he was always playing tricks, so nobody wanted to play with him. But to do what he did just because of that..." She went on to explain how the Skull Kid came across the Mask Salesman, knocked him out, and then found Majora's Mask. "And once he got his power..." Tatl didn't need to continue, as they knew the rest.

Everypony was now deep in thought after hearing her story. It certainly put things into perspective. Skull Kid wasn't some villain, he was just a lonely kid who got possessed by an evil mask, thus fueling his already mischievous personality. Anypony who was hurt enough would certainly have done whatever it took to get what they wanted. It reminded them of Trixie, who had used the Alicorn Amulet to fuel her desires to be Great and Powerful.

Another thing they noticed was how open Tatl was just now. While they hadn't spent much time with her they already had a good idea of her personality, which they were still getting used to. She was loud, bossy, impatient, snarky, sarcastic... yet she had just willingly shared a rather touching story from her past, at no prompting from anypony. It was nice that she had opened up like that, and they all hoped to see more of that side of the Fairy.

Tatl continued her thousand yard stare before shaking her head. She then noticed everyone was also staring blankly. "Hey let's get a move on, before we use up all of our time!" And just like that she was back to her usual self.

The Hylian nodded and continued walking forward, and his companions were close behind.

Pinkie was still in deep thought, even after moving on from the story. For some reason the story made her think about the time nopony showed up to her pet alligator Gummy's birthday party. She later found out it was because it was her own birthday... but up until that point she felt hurt and betrayed by her friends. It got so bad that she went crazy and acted as though a bunch of inanimate objects were her real friends. Looking back, that sounded similar to what happened to the poor Skull Kid. _'If I had stumbled across an evil mask, I wonder if I would have ended up like the Skull Kid.'_ The pink mare didn't want to think about that, because as much as she hated to admit it, at the time she probably would have taken that mask to get back at her friends. _'It's okay Pinkie, all those dark thoughts are gone... I hope.'_

* * *

After walking through a somewhat narrow passageway, the group reached another area. It certainly wasn't the Swamp, but they knew they were getting closer. A good indication was the far off foul stench. More and more trees were present, all of them full of leaves save for one lone, dead tree out in the middle of the field. Despite it being day time Bats were seen in, and flying around the tree. There was another Green Chuchu up ahead, as well as a red one even further up.

Way on the far side of the area were two pathways which branched off. One led to a path with even more trees, some of which were barren, while the other led to a path surrounded by small rocky cliffs.

"Which way do we want to go?" Twilight questioned.

"The one on the right will lead us to the Southern Swamp." Tatl told the group.

They all nodded and went forward, intent on ignoring the branching path. They all looked over at one point toward the Chuchu, but it didn't seem to notice them. The Bats in the tree were a little frightening, if only because they didn't seem as harmless as Vampire Fruit Bats, but they also ignored them. Several yards away from said tree was a Red Chuchu, which wasn't as passive as the other one. A quick thrust from Link's blade reduced the living blob to goo, and they were free to continue onward.

After a little while more of walking they actually reached the fork in the road, and they could see the branching paths more clearly. They had already seen where the forward path took them, but only now could they see what the other had in store. The other had several dead trees scattered about, and they thought they could see a building in the distance.

There was also a sign, which the Hylian read aloud. "Swamp Shooting Gallery ahead."

"Shootin' gallery?" The farm-Pony questioned.

"It's used for archery." Tatl explained.

Hearing that made Rainbow Dash do a little loop de loop. "Sweet, a shooting gallery! Now I can show off my skills with a bow!"

Just as Twilight was about to comment that they didn't have time for a detour, and that her rainbow-maned friend had never used a bow to her knowledge before, she heard a rather disgusting sound. She turned to the source and gasped. "Chuchu's can reform?!" There was actually a little bit of excitement in her voice... okay a lot of excitement.

Tatl flew over to the eager Princess. "Yeah Chuchu's reform after a little while."

A big grin came to the Alicorn's face, and her eyes were lighting up. "That's so fascinating! Oh this world has so many interesting creatures, and rules, and magic! I just want to study it all!"

Both Link and his Fairy companion stared at her in confusion.

"Don't worry about her sugarcube, she usually gets excited about learnin'." Applejack explained.

Realizing that she was making a bit of a scene, and that nopony else shared in her passion, Twilight let out a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry about that, let's move on."

And so they continued onward, taking care of another Red Chuchu along the way. Luckily that seemed to be it in terms of obstacles, and the rest of the way to the Swamp was fairly easy. Sure they had a good amount of traveling left to do, but that was about it.

At one point Rarity paused, and her eyes drifted upwards. "Pardon me everypony, but isn't that Tingle?"

They all looked at where she was looking, and sure enough Tingle was floating above them. Only the Ponies with horns knew his name, but the others had seen him in North Clock Town.

"What's he doing all the way out here?" The lavender Pony questioned.

On his part, Tingle was happily floating in the sky, unaware of the boy and the Ponies down below. He was so in his own world that when he noticed a bright pink Pony floating up to him with a balloon of her own, he let out a shriek.

"Hiya mister Tingle my name is Pinkie Pie! My friend Rarity saw you floating up here and I couldn't help but think of how lonely you must be up here so I decided to join you and become your bestest friend in the whole wide world!" Pinkie finished her rambling by throwing confetti into the air.

The map maker stared at the Pony for a few moments, unsure if his brain received all of that information. After a few short seconds he broke out into a smile. "I've never had a friend before, it sounds exciting."

"Oh it is, trust me!" The pink Pony beamed.

"Hey where did you get that confetti, it was really great?"

"Well..." Her sentence was cut off by her cyan friend popping her balloon, making her fall to the ground.

Rainbow merely gave the oddly dressed man an uncaring glance. "We have a world to save here, you can talk about confetti later!"

Pinkie Pie got up and frowned slightly at the idea of leaving her new found friend behind... that was, until an idea came to her head. "Hey why don't you come with us?" She asked him with a hopeful grin.

Despite wanting to get to know his new friend better, he shook his head no. "Sorry Pinkie Pie, but I will remain here and continue to sell maps to those who need them."

The pink-maned mare frowned again before breaking out into a smile. "Oki Doki Loki, well, cya later Tingle!"

He waved goodbye to the group as they continued their journey to the Swamp, and as they left he couldn't help but smile. _'What do you know, I have a friend... take that dad!'_

* * *

Rain started to pour down on the group of eight, and what started as a light drizzle quickly escalated into a downpour. It wasn't nearly enough to cause a flood, but it certainly made everything wet. It never reached the point to where it was impossible to travel. In addition, it also cooled the area down quite a bit. Yesterday it had been pretty hot, but as of right now it was kind of cool... and the rain certainly made everything seem colder.

Despite the sudden rain the group continued, mostly due to there not being any shelters around. There were some complaints here and there, but aside from that they continued without incident. And after a while they made it to a clearing of sorts.

Suddenly a fowl stench reached all of them, and if they weren't sure if they were heading the right way before, they were now. There was a big patch of land in front of them, filled with oddly shaped palm trees. A building made of wood rested upon a raised wooden platform, which had a bridge leading out to land, as well as a boat. Surrounding said platform was water, and lots of it.

"Ugh this place smells awful, and all of this rain has ruined my mane." Rarity whined as she cast a sad glance at her dripping wet mane.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "We heard you the first hundred times."

"At least there's a buildin' up ahead. Who knows, maybe they'll let us hunker down in there." Applejack suggested.

"We might as well ask, and if nothing else we might get information about the Swamp." Twilight said as she began heading toward the place in question.

As they neared the building they could all get a better look at the water, and Swamp was a very accurate term for it. The water itself looked very murky, and that wasn't counting all the leaves, fallen branches, floating lily pads, and whatever other rotten things were residing in it. To make it worse, only part of the water was the grayish murky color, as beyond that the water was different.

"How come the water over there is purple?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because this Swamp is poisonous." The Fairy answered.

Fluttershy gasped. "P-poisonous?"

"Yeah, so don't drink it!" Tatl yelled. Part of her figured it went without saying, but she figured she would say it just in case.

"Too bad this water is so dirty, I could really use a drink." Twilight lamented.

"Well unless you know a purification spell I'd say you're out of luck." Tatl said matter-of-factly.

Unfortunately, the Princess didn't know any kind of spells like that. She wasn't sure if there were any to be honest. _'I'll have to ask the Princess about it when we get home.'_

Beside her, the energetic mare placed a reassuring hoof onto her friend. "It's okay Twilight, we can just drink the rain." In demonstration she titled her head back and opened her mouth wide, and drank the rain that fell into it.

A chuckle escaped the Alicorn's mouth at her friend's antics. "You didn't bring a bottle by any chance did you?" She asked the Hero.

Link, who had been reading the sign, turned to face the Pony and shook his head no. He had at one point had four bottles, but those had been lost to time. He then pointed up the building. "This place should be able to help us." The Hero of Time told them as he walked over to the small bridge.

As the Ponies followed him Applejack noticed a weird looking owl statue to her right. It seemed very out of place in the Swamp, and just looked strange. What was really weird was that she thought she had seen a similar thing back in Clock Town. These thoughts lingered in her mind until she bumped into one of her friends, bringing her back to reality.

Directly in front of them was a ladder, which Link was already climbing. Since the Ponies couldn't really climb up it they had to fly, and the three winged Ponies carried those that couldn't fly. Now on the platform they stood in front of a door, leading inside the building. Directly to the left was a Deku Flower, which had a strange looking Deku Scrub resting within it.

"Psst, over here!"

They all exchanged looks, shrugged, and began walking over towards him.

As his potential customers drew near the Scrub popped further out of his Flower. "Thanks for Stopping! You guys aren't from here, are you? I sell Magic Beans to Deku Scrubs, but I'd really like to leave my hometown. I'm hoping to find some success in a livelier place! But to open a business in another place... you need to go through the proper channels first. Do you know what I mean?"

An awkward silence ensued as they all stared blankly at him. After a few seconds Twilight spoke up. "Sorry sir, but we don't really have time to chat."

"You didn't understand my problem. Oh, well. Don't pay it any heed."

With that they turned back to head inside the building. Twilight was a little sad that she and her friends couldn't help him, but they just didn't have the time. Perhaps when all was said and done they could help him with his business, but for now all they could do was wish him luck.

Link opened the door and let the Ponies go inside first.

The inside of the building wasn't anything fancy, save for the few decorations or the giant clock on the right wall. In the back right corner was some kind of booth, with an empty window and a piece of paper on the wall next to it. There was also a counter which had various shelves behind it. Said shelves were filled with various knickknacks, and there was also a plant behind the counter as well.

Standing behind the counter was a rather large man, with a bushy goatee. He wore a brown hat with goggles, a brown vest which was rather small on him, and red and white stripped pants. Said man held a hand to his forehead, all the while mumbling to himself. "Blimey! Where is he? That spoiled child is off playin' hooky again! A child his age has no business searching for Fairies...!" It was then that he noticed a little kid, and six Ponies, were inside staring curiously at him. "Oh! Ahem... welcome! Well then, why don't you show me the Pictograph you've taken?"

Link turned to the Ponies, feeling just as confused as they were.

After a bit of an awkward silence Twilight spoke up. "Excuse me sir, but we don't have any Pictographs."

"Yeah... and what the hay is a Pictograph?" Rainbow asked.

The man didn't answer at first, being a little surprised to hear those horses talking. "Huh... talking horses... maybe my boy isn't as nuts as I thought." He then shook his head, figuring he would deal with that later. "You aren't from around here are ya?" He received head shakes no. "Well, a Pictograph is a picture you take with a Pictograph Box, and if you take a really nice picture you can take the Boat Cruise Tour for free."

They all took that bit of information in, even though it wasn't that important. "We didn't really come here ta enter any contest. We're here ta help save the Swamp." Applejack told him.

In response to that the man let out a laugh. "Save the Swamp?!" He continued laughing, serving to anger the group in front of him.

"What's so funny? We are trying to do a good deed here!" The Generous mare exclaimed.

A few moments later he calmed down. "Sorry, it's just you make it sound like it'll be easy."

"Well how hard can it be?" Pinkie questioned.

"I don't know all the details, but there's something happening 'round here that made the Swamp poisonous. Word is the Deku know what's going on, but that Deku King's lost his mind apparently. I only heard this from Koume, the old hag that runs the Boat Cruise. She's taken a few trips to the Deku Palace, which is a stop on the Cruise, and on her last visit she said the King wasn't doing well."

"Do you think something happened to the Deku?" Fluttershy asked.

He shrugged. "Beats me, I just try and keep out of their business."

The Alicorn smiled lightly, happy to have some new information that was actually useful. "Well thank you for telling us all that." She then turned toward her friends. "Alright girls, it looks like we have a lead."

"I wouldn't start celebrating yet." Tatl stated.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

The Hero of Time motioned them to join him by the booth, and once they were gathered he pointed inside, revealing nothing. Seeing their confusion he pointed at the paper next to the window. "Old Koume's Boat Cruise Ticket office closed. Please inquire at the Magic Hags' Potion Shop at the edge of the Swamp."

"So all we have to do is go find this hag and she'll take us to the Deku Palace? Pfft, that'll be easy." The cyan Pegasus smirked.

"Maybe, but there's still that storm going on outside." Twilight said.

"Not ta mention that's not very specific." The farm-Pony added.

Overhearing their conversation, the man spoke up. "If yer looking for the Potion Shop it's northwest of here, in fact I think there's a trail of lily pads that'll lead you to it."

Everypony smiled at that, happy that there was a trail to follow. And once they found Koume they could get to the Deku Palace and find out what's wrong.

"Well I guess it's time to go." Link told the group.

"Do we really have to go out now, it's still pouring and I don't think my mane can take much more." Rarity whined.

"There's just no pleasing you is there?" Tatl complained.

The lavender mare frowned. While she knew that time was of the essence that didn't mean they couldn't rest for a bit, especially when it was still raining outside. At the same time though they did need to get a move on. Her brow furrowed as she contemplated the best course of action for the group, which was a little difficult. It also made her realize that she was technically the leader, well, at least co-leading with Link, but still a leader none the less. This meant it was up to her to lead her friends and make sure everything was alright. That, and that their mission gets completed successfully. _'Oh if only I could make a list!'_

Suddenly her face lit up, because she remembered she had packed some quills and parchment in her saddlebags, just in case she needed them. _'Good thing I'm always prepared.'_ The Alicorn smiled to herself as she opened one side of her saddlebag, and then took out a quill and some parchment, all with her magic. With that done she began writing.

Confused as to what the Pony was doing, Tatl and Link glanced over at one another before looking back at her. "What are you doing?" The Fairy asked.

"I'm glad you asked. I am making a list of what we've accomplished so far, as well as what we still need to accomplish." She beamed, only to see them just as confused as before. "Don't either of you ever make any lists?"

"What would a Fairy need a list for?"

"She has a point." Pinkie added, although she wasn't really paying that much attention to their conversation.

Link merely shrugged. "I've never really made a list, I usually just keep track of things in my head."

While the Princess knew that someponies were capable of keeping track of information in their heads, she had trouble believing it in his case. Being a hero, he would certainly need to remember a lot of important details and other information, so for him to have never made a list once was shocking. "Y-you've never made a... l-list? B-but how do you keep track of everything?!" It wasn't her intention, but she was being just a little bit too forceful.

Once again he shrugged. To him it wasn't that hard to keep track of everything, even when it seemed like it was too much. The Hylian couldn't really explain it, but it just came naturally to him, and he certainly wasn't about to question a good thing.

Still dumbfounded, Twilight could only stare at him incredulously. After a few moments she shook her head. If he didn't make lists then that was his loss, and she certainly didn't have the time to change his mind. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't keep a list. "Well, I for one think lists are very helpful."

The Hylian exchanged confused looks with his companion before shrugging yet again. If she was so keen on keeping track of everything then why stop her? In fact, it could probably work to the group's advantage. Being organized and following a schedule of sorts would help them stay focused on the task at hand, as well as help with time management, which was crucial since they didn't have a lot of it, even with the Song of Time.

After a few moments the Fairy spoke up. "Well seeing as how she's busy making a list, and because a certain someone refuses to get wet," She cast a glare at Rarity, even though she probably didn't realize it. "we might want to wait here for a little bit."

Everypony could get behind that, and as such voiced no complaints... except for Rarity, who was sending a glare at the Fairy.

Meanwhile the Princess was still working on her list, seeing as how they were taking a small break to rest and get dry. As she wrote she came to a realization, nothing bad, but it might have been seen that way. She and her friends had just kind of come into this building and stayed, long after their conversation with the owner had ended. It made her feel rude that they had just come and and stayed past their welcome, if they were even welcome in the first place that is.

Feeling guilty, she stopped what she was doing and turned to face the man behind the counter. "You don't mind if we stay in here for a little while do you?"

Instead of being angry, as the Pony expected, he merely smiled at her. "Go right on ahead, it's not like I have much business today."

Letting out a sigh of relief, the Alicorn smiled at him. "Thank you." Her gaze then settled on Link, who was removing his sword and shield from his back.

Seeing as how his clothes were damp the Hero of Time felt it necessary to remove them and properly dry them. And so after placing his equipment against the wall he started removing his tunic, but first he took off his hat. Now shirtless, he began wringing out his wet tunic, unaware of the stares he was receiving from the Ponies. His body, while certainly far from muscular, had a small amount of tone to it. He assumed it was because of all of the exercise he received on his journey, from walking long distances to making tough climbs up mountains.

Everypony continued staring before going about their own business, which aside from Rarity brushing her mane, was just having a snack. Any opportunity to eat was great, and even though they were starting to run low on apples it wasn't that much of a problem. And it wasn't like they couldn't get any more food, either in the wilderness or from town. It was looking to still be a long journey, and they would need all the energy they could get.

* * *

Once they were all dry and well fed the group left the safety of the Tourist Information building, ready to get a move on. It was still raining outside, and it didn't seem like it would be letting up any time soon. So there was no choice but to suck it up and keep going... which was easier for most. And although Rarity wasn't too keen on getting even wetter she realized there wasn't anything she could do, and she cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella or her rain dress.

They reached the edge of the water, and just as the man had told them there was indeed a trail of lily pads. As to why and how a trail of lily pads had been there was a bit of a mystery, but it would certainly make reaching the Potion Shop much easier. Of course, it didn't exactly tell them how far away it was, but it gave them a path to follow.

"So do we have ta hop across all these lily pads?" Applejack wondered aloud.

In response to that the cyan Pegasus scoffed. "Why would we have to do that when we got wings!" She accentuated her point by unfurling her wings.

"Well not all of us have wings Rainbow." Twilight reminded as she set her gaze toward the large lily pads. "Although we may have to fly each other across, because I'm not sure if those pads will support our weight."

"Except for Link, he can just hop across as a Deku!" Pinkie added with a smile.

Link was already several steps ahead of her as the Deku Mask was already in his hands. Before putting it on though he stared at it for a few moments, a sense of unease washing over him. According to the Mask Salesman putting on the mask wouldn't permanently change him into a Deku, and while he believed him it still seemed a little daunting.

Never the less he knew he would need to put the mask on eventually, and now was the time apparently. A deep breath escaped his mouth as he placed the mask over his face. As soon as it was on his face he could feel his body starting to change, which was actually a little painful. The Hylian was hunched over for a bit before standing up straight, screaming loudly as he did so. After a bright flash of light he was once again in his Deku body.

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, having been a little frightened by his scream.

Everypony else was also a little concerned, as it seemed transforming back into a Deku was rather painful.

On his part, Link was a little shaken up. It felt as though all the memories of some Deku had flashed right before his eyes, as if they all came rushing at him at once. Other than that though he was fine. which he conveyed to the Ponies by nodding.

Now as a Deku he was ready to continue. He began running into the water, and as soon as it became too deep the Deku began bouncing on the surface of it. After several bounces he had landed safely on a lily pad, and once he was safe he began moving toward the next one.

The Alicorn was still amazed by his ability to just hop across water, but she realized there would be time to study the Deku later. "Okay girls, let's get-"

"WEEEEEE!"

Her sentence fell short as she watched her pink-maned friend hop between each lily pad, and judging by her cry of excitement she was enjoying it. "Moving..." She glanced over at her friends, who seemed just as confused as she was.

A few more seconds passed before they all shrugged and proceeded to follow after her. Rainbow held Rarity in her hooves, while Twilight kept Applejack from plummeting into the water below. It was a bit of a journey from where they had been to the Potion Shop, but there didn't appear to be any kind of danger, and the water didn't even seem poisonous. Sure, there was quite a lot of overgrown vegetation, and slightly droopy trees, but nothing too crazy.

After jumping off the final lily pad the Deku hopped across the water and landed on a small dock. He then removed the Deku Mask, figuring his Hylian form was more useful at the moment. It was just as surreal to remove the mask as it was to wear it, but in a way it was better. At the very least it wasn't painful, which was always a plus. Once back to normal he put the mask back into his inventory bag, and as he did he could see Pinkie Pie landing next to him.

"Isn't hopping across lily pads the most fun thing ever?!" She asked, all the while getting right into his face.

Staring into her big blue eyes he could only shrug, having not really thought to much about it. Perhaps it could have been more fun... if not for the fact that Deku can't survive in deep water.

A couple seconds later the other Ponies landed on the dock, and now they were ready to continue.

At the end of the dock was an entrance, and directly next to it was a giant bubbling cauldron. A big archway with three more cauldrons stood in front of the entrance. And if that wasn't enough to give it away, there was a sign that pointed in the direction of the Potion Shop.

Pinkie took a moment to gaze into the big cauldron, wondering what was brewing. To her disappointment, there wasn't actually any potion being made. Instead it was just smoke coming from a fire, which gave off the illusion that something was brewing. "Aw man what a gyp!" She frowned before noticing her friends leaving without her. "Hey wait for me!" The pink mare ran after her friends, only to bump into them seconds later.

The reason they all had stopped was an encounter with a savage looking plant. Razor sharp teeth lined the inside of its big blue head, which was connected via a long green stem. It had popped out of the ground so suddenly, thus surprising everypony.

Link on the other hand stood firm, his sword and shield at the ready.

"Don't tell me you don't know about the Deku Baba!" Judging by the Ponies' reactions, they hadn't. "Cut it down when it has extended its body and Deku Nuts or Sticks will come out."

He had dealt with Deku Babas before, and as such already knew how to handle them. The Hero of Time stood in place, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. His opportunity came when the Baba lunged forward, attempting to take a big bite of him. Reacting quickly, he hopped to the side, making the Baba extend its body. With a slash of his sword, and a yell, he sliced the head clean off.

The Deku Baba's head fell to the ground before slowly dissolving into blue smoke, similar to what happened to the Wolfos. And after dying it left behind a big brown nut.

Link put away his equipment, and as he was about to pick up his spoil he noticed the pink Pony standing over it.

"Mmm, I'm hungry!" With a big grin on her face she bent down and prepared to eat the nut.

"No!"

It was too late, and as soon as Pinkie chomped down on the nut there was a blinding flash of light. Her eyes instantly shut tight, having been exposed to the light at point blank range. "Ow my eyes!" Try as she might, she couldn't open them.

Everypony else had been exposed to the light as well, but not nearly as bad. "What was that?" Applejack asked.

"Deku Nuts explode in a blinding flash of light. They're meant to be used on enemies, not for eating!" The Fairy explained, casting a glare at the reckless Pony.

"Hey it's not my fault it looked so delicious!" She defended as she managed to get her eyes open.

Link had also been affected, but had recovered a bit sooner than the others. He had wanted to save that Deku Nut for later, but it was gone now. At the very least the Ponies knew what it was for the future.

After that little incident they kept on walking through the windy path created by a barrier of palm trees. Along the way they encountered a Mini Baba, which was kind of like a baby version of a Deku Baba. Since it appeared to be always stuck in the ground they left it alone.

After a little more walking the group came across what could only be the Potion Shop. Sitting on top of a platform, which was on a big tree, was a building shaped like a strange jar. It was red and color, and had a handle attached to the side, which was next to a small spire that seemed to have an opening up top. Surrounding the tree were several big pots, not unlike the cauldron at the entrance.

They walked along the grass before coming across a shallow pool of water, which seemed a little deeper due to the rain. After that the Hylian climbed up the ladder, while the Ponies helped each other get up. Once on top of the platform they went through the extravagant door.

The inside of the Potion Shop was surprisingly nice, although there was somewhat of a creepy vibe going on. Brooms mounted on the wall, big fancy pots, potions on the front counter, crates most likely full of ingredients, a big bubbling cauldron right next to them... yep, definitely a Potion Shop. It reminded the Ponies of Zecora's house in the Everfree Forest, but slightly less creepy. Yet even with all that there was still something missing... no one was inside.

Everypony took a good look around, trying to see where the shop owner could be. Unfortunately, as they first observed, there was nopony inside. "So where's the shop owner?" Rainbow questioned.

"I'm not sure." Twilight answered.

Applejack shrugged. "Maybe she stepped out fer a bit."

"Or maybe she's on her lunch break!" Pinkie added.

While they had been searching and then talking the Hylian went to the counter, and upon doing so found a note. "Gone out back to the woods on a little errand. Kotake. The Manager." He read loud enough for everypony to hear it.

A small moment of pause followed before Rarity spoke up. "Perhaps we should go out to the woods and help her, and after we do that maybe this Kotake will be willing to help us." She suggested, but part of her figured they all had a similar idea.

"That's a great idea!" The pink mare smiled.

One Pony however, wasn't as eager. "I don't know, maybe we should just wait for her to get back. Besides, she probably doesn't want us disturbing her." Fluttershy told the group.

Rainbow flew over to her shy friend, their faces inches apart. "We don't have time to wait, the fate of the world is at stake!" She exclaimed.

"Oh now you care about the world." Tatl remarked with a roll of her eyes.

The cyan Pegasus shot the Fairy a glare before turning her attention back toward her friends. "I say we go into those woods and find that old hag!"

Applejack let out a chuckle before turning to the unofficial leader of the group. "What do ya say Link, yer opinion is just as important as ours."

Everypony nodded in agreement to that statement.

He too nodded before walking back to the door. "The sooner we help Kotake the sooner we can reach the Deku Palace." The Hylian said as he opened the door and walked outside. As he did he couldn't help but realize that the name Kotake sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. It was on the tip of his tongue, but at the moment the answer escaped him.

The Ponies wasted no time in following him out, making sure to shut the door behind them. It was still raining pretty heavily, but they had a job to do so they ignored it. Even though their manes and tails were very droopy they didn't care, even if it made it hard to see for some. And at this point Rarity would just have to dry and restyle it later, and how she hoped they had spas in Termina!

They got off the platform, either by climbing down or flying, and once on the lower platform they took a moment to find the woods. It didn't take long to find, as it was just west of the waterfall. Once they knew where to go they began heading that way, once again having to cross the shallow water. As they walked they noticed a bizarre statue of sorts. It appeared to be made out of stone, and had what looked like a face on it. What stood out the most was the giant eye, which was front and center.

Without even realizing it they all had stopped to stare at it, matching their gazes with the eye's. They remained standing for what felt like hours, unable to look away.

At some point Twilight regained her ability to speak. "What is this thing?"

"It's a Gossip Stone, they're all over Termina." Tatl answered.

"This thing is pretty creepy." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"You said it." The farm-Pony added.

Pinkie's eyes were wide, and her pupils were that of pinpricks. "It feels like my heart is being peered into, as if it's staring into my very soul."

Her friends all looked at her puzzled, while the boy and his Fairy seemed concerned.

After a few seconds the pink Pony shook her head rapidly. "I'm back!" She smiled brightly.

There was still quite a bit of confusion and worry in the air, but they were wasting time. "We can discuss this later, right now we should go into the woods." The Generous mare stated as she walked away from the creepy statue.

One by one the others walked away from the alluring Gossip Stone, with the Hylian the last to leave. This wasn't his first encounter with Gossip Stones, and he knew what secrets they really held. While seemingly impossible there is a way to communicate with them. Unfortunately, he and the others lacked the necessary item, and had no way to speak to the mysterious stone.

Realizing the others had gone to the entrance of the woods already Link ran to catch them. After a quick sprint he reached the Ponies, and as soon as he did they all prepared to enter the woods. "Woods of Mystery. Beware of ferocious turtles."

"F-ferocious t-turtles?" Not only did the sound of that scare the shy mare, but it also upset her a little. If these ferocious turtles were anything like a Wolfos then showing them love and kindness wouldn't work. Ever since she got her Cutie Mark she believed in showing nothing but kindness toward any animal, no matter how big or ferocious(except for Dragons of course)... but there were apparently animals here that were too far gone, and she hated the fact that violence of any kind had to come to them.

Rainbow on the other hoof scoffed. "Pfft, how ferocious could they possibly be?"

"I'm not sure what to expect, but we should be careful none the less." Twilight warned as she took a few steps forward.

"Twi's right, especially since this place is called the Woods o' Mystery." Applejack added.

Everypony else nodded before heading on into the woods.

The Woods of Mystery definitely earned the name, which the group could tell right off the bat. Dense sections of tall trees, multiple ways to go, various other types of flora blending in with the trees. Not just that, but there was also a lingering feeling of mystery, and a slight fear of what might happen. If the entirety of the Woods of Mystery had branching pathways then it would be incredibly easy to get lost, and make it difficult to find a way out.

Directly in front of them was a monkey with white fur, with brown spots on his chest and face. His face was also a little red in color, bordering on the pink side. Two black eyes stared at the boy, the Fairy, and the six Ponies.

Almost instantly Fluttershy sprinted through her friends, heading straight for the monkey. "Aw, what a cute little monkey!" She cooed as she rubbed her hoof under his chin, eliciting a giggle from the creature.

The Ponies smiled warmly at the sight, happy that their shy friend could find some enjoyment in the rather intense adventure.

Link observed the butter-yellow Pegasus, noting how easy it was for her to warm up to the monkey. It also didn't take much time for the monkey to warm up to the Pony.

After several moments the monkey moved back a little, although he wished he could continue getting affection. "Mmm... follow me!" He told them as he began running to the right.

"Uh, did y'all here that monkey talk too?" The farmPony asked.

"I know I did!" Pinkie beamed.

Rarity cocked a confused brow. "But I thought only Fluttershy could communicate with animals?"

"Maybe some animals in this world are sentient." The lavender Alicorn mused, having no other explanation.

"That must be it if you could all here him." Fluttershy added.

"Hey!" Tatl yelled, instantly getting the attention of the Ponies. "If you're done chatting we have to follow the monkey!"

Everypony noticed that the monkey had been kind enough to wait for them, and also that Link was near the animal. They all let out a few nervous laughs before walking toward the others. Once they were all together they began moving out, with the monkey leading the way.

Thanks to their monkey tour guide, the group had a much easier time navigating the Woods of Mystery. On their own, they most likely would have spent a long time wandering around, and get lost along the way. Luckily that wasn't the case, and they would hopefully run into the hag along the way.

There were indeed ferocious turtles, which Tatl had called Snappers. They were huge, almost as tall as the Ponies, and much bigger too. Their skin was a dull shade of teal, and a red shell rested upon their backs. They seemed pretty harmless, but when something entered its territory it got defensive. It uttered some kind of phrase or battle cry before retreating into its shell, revealing their deadly spikes. Once in that state they would spin themselves at their prey, either attempting to skewer them or cut them. Either one sounded painful, and so the group avoided them as best they could.

As much as Fluttershy wanted to try and see if she could reach them she decided against it, not wanting to bring harm to her or somepony else if she couldn't.

At one point along the way they came across someone who could be none other than the hag. It was a short, green skinned woman, with gigantic grey hair with a band with some kind of strange writing on it. Her nose was big, her eyes appearing to be looking in opposite directions, and there was a bright-blue gem seemingly embedded in her forehead. She wore a long black cloak covering everything but her head, with part of the front being white with red lines and a strange blue design. What stood out the most, and which gave away who she was, was the fact that she was riding on a broom.

Twilight stared up at the flying woman before clearing her throat. "Excuse me." She called out.

She took notice of the group and proceeded to lower herself down to their level, while still hovering above the ground. "Tee-hee-hee!" She chuckled, unnerving the Ponies slightly. "...Hmm... did you need me for something?" Her voice was old and raspy, as the group in front of her expected.

"Are you Kotake?" The lavender mare asked.

"Yes I am... could you, by chance, be boat cruise passengers?"

Everypony smiled. "Yes we are ma'am." Applejack answered.

In spite of their eagerness the hag frowned. "It's unfortunate, but Koume is missing..."

Hearing that made everypony gasp. "Goodness." The shy Pony stated.

"Help me look for her..." The hag pleaded.

"You can count on us!" Rainbow promised, earning nods of agreements from her friends.

Kotake smiled lightly. "Thank you Ponies."

Pinkie shared the smile, in fact hers was bigger. "Come on girls, we have a hag to find!"

At this point it clicked in Link's mind, and he remembered why they sounded so familiar. Back in Hyrule he had come across two witches, whose names were Koume and Kotake. They had served a very evil man, and had caused quite a bit of trouble for him. It was a little shocking to see them here, especially since neither one seemed particularly evil... well he had only met one, but she seemed pretty friendly... also, he was sure they were dead! _'Come to think of it, a lot of those people in Clock Town looked familiar also.'_

As the Hylian was lost in thought the Ponies were prepared to go find the Koume... but there was a slight problem. "So, uh, did anypony see where the monkey went?" The honest mare asked.

Everypony took a good look around, and quickly realized their tour guide was long gone, most likely thinking they had been following after him.

Rarity frowned. "Oh dear, without that monkey we won't be able to make our way through here."

"Yeah and now we'll spend hours and hours wandering around and getting lost!" Pinkie exclaimed rather dramatically.

"L-lost?" The very thought terrified the shy Pegasus, as that was a big fear for her... then again she had a lot of fears, most of which she considered big. Her body started shaking, and she felt the need to curl up into a ball and panic. It felt like her body could just shut down, and they weren't even lost yet!

"Calm down Fluttershy, we aren't lost yet." Twilight said as she placed a comforting hoof upon her shaking friend. "I'm sure it won't be too hard to find our way out of this place."

"But we still have ta find Koume, and she could be anywhere!" Applejack added.

Link finally returned from his thoughts, having heard bits and pieces of what the Ponies had been saying. He took a look around and their guide was indeed gone, but he had a solution. "Rainbow Dash, I want you to fly up above the woods."

She gave him a salute. "I'm on it!" In an instant her wings unfurled and she zoomed upwards, leaving behind a rainbow trail as she did so.

It took only a moment for the Princess to realize what he was thinking. "Oh I get it, you're having Rainbow Dash get an aerial view so we can find our way out!" She received a knowing nod from him, making her smile. She was a little upset with herself that she didn't think of that, but in the end it didn't really matter.

A little while later Rainbow came flying back down. "I took a good look around, and I'm pretty sure I know our way out!" The cyan mare declared, making her friends cheer loudly. "Not just that, but I think I found Koume."

"Well what are we waitin' fer?"

They all started moving again, with Rainbow leading the pack. After a few turns, and avoiding more Snappers, the group reached their destination. Everypony gasped upon catching sight of another witch, who looked exactly the same as Kotake except her gem was red instead of blue. Said woman was lying on the ground, in pain, surrounded by a few monkeys.

Koume lifted her head up upon hearing footsteps, and while she was surprised to find a little boy, a Fairy, and six Ponies she figured this was her chance. "Ohh! Owow-ow! Help Meeee!"

Instantly they all ran toward her, and inspected her body. She seemed fine, for the most part. "What happened?" Twilight questioned.

"I was just busy minding my own business, picking mushrooms, when... BAM! I got hit from behind! That pesky Skull Kid! Did he think an old hag wouldn't recognize him if he hid his face? Oh, ow! To think he's that powerful... and now I can't even move!"

"That mean old Skull Kid attacked you?!" Pinkie Pie asked angrily. It was one thing to steal from her friends, and it was one thing to make the Moon crash into the planet... but now he was beating up old ladies?! "I oughta teach him a lesson!" She threatened, all the while shaking a hoof menacingly.

Applejack noticed the anger in her friend and placed her hooves upon her, trying to bring her back. "Easy now Pinkie Pie, we can deal with the Skull Kid later. Right now we need ta help Koume here."

"Don't you have anything that gives you energy?" Koume questioned before letting out a cough.

The pink-maned mare placed a hoof to her chin before lighting up with an idea. "Ooh, you mean like a cupcake?!" She reached into her mane and pulled one out, which didn't have any hair on it surprisingly. With the dessert in hoof she offered it to the downed hag.

Koume stared at it before swatting it away with her hand. "I don't need sweets, I need energy!"

A frown came to Fluttershy's face as she turned toward the Alicorn. "Don't you have any spells that can help her?"

Twilight furrowed her brow before grabbing her spell book from her saddlebag. "Let's see," She flipped through the pages, but to her disappointment there was nothing. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem like there are any spells for restoring energy." With a sigh she put the book back.

An idea then came to the Hylian's mind. "I think I know what to do." Without elaborating on what exactly his plan was the boy just ran off back the way they came.

The Ponies watched him leave before turning back to the hag, all of them frowning lightly as they did so. There just had to be a way to help her, but that didn't seem possible. She needed energy, but the Ponies had no way of giving her any. Magic wouldn't work, neither would cupcakes, and unless they had some other method they were stuck.

Just then, Link came running back to them, with a big jar of red liquid in his left hand. He moved past the Ponies and stopped in front of Koume, and he held out the bottle.

Koume lit up when she saw the jar, and instantly took it from the boy. "Ah! That color!" She removed the lid and took a whiff. "That smell... that's definitely Kotake's..." Using what little power she had left she stood up, gripped the bottle with both hands, and began to chug the red liquid. After a few short moments she finished the contents, exhaling some red mist as she did so. "Ooh! Feel the energy flow! Koume is revived!" She gave him the bottle back before placing her hands together, which started glowing white.

Shortly after there was a big poof of smoke, and everypony gasped lightly upon seeing the previously injured hag flying on a broom much like the other one. It also made them smile, knowing they helped her recover.

"You all saved me!"

"It was no trouble." The Princess stated, earning nods of agreements from the others.

"I'm the Swamp Tour Guide. I run the Boat Cruise, so come by if you want a free ride." With her message delivered Koume flew off into the sky, laughing as she did so.

Applejack stared at the sky for a few moments before turning to the Hylian. "So what exactly did ya give her?"

"Red Potion." He replied as he put the lid on the bottle and put into his inventory bag.

"It's a special elixir that restores energy. We went back to see Kotake and told her what happened, and she gave us that bottle of Red Potion." Tatl added.

Everypony felt a little silly for not thinking of that, but since Koume had been saved they couldn't really complain.

"We should get a move on, we need to reach the Deku Palace quickly." Link told the group as he began heading forward. There were three ways to go, and each way had a sign in front of it. His eyes read the sign in front of him, which told him it was a way out. Satisfied that they wouldn't have to retrace their steps he continued forward.

"Hey wait for us!" Pinkie called out as she and her friends followed him.

As soon as they were outside they were approached by the monkeys from earlier.

"You have strange powers, no? Me been watching you! Lately, this swamp, filled with poison water. Temple above waterfall strange... brother go to temple. But brother no able to find temple entrance. Temple for Deku only. Brother captured by Deku. Now in palace. Help!" After asking for help the monkeys ran off.

It took a moment for the monkeys' plea to register with the group, as it had been a little tricky understanding their speech patterns. For the Ponies, it reminded them of Zecora, just without the rhyming.

Twilight then shook her head lightly before looking over to the pathway the monkeys took. "So now we're heading to the Deku Palace to save their brother."

"That's mighty convenient, considerin' we were headin' there anyway." The blonde Pony noted.

"What are we waiting for?!" Rainbow exclaimed as her wings unfurled and she zoomed off to the Boat Cruise.

"Rainbow wait for us!" The lavender mare called out as she and the others ran to follow.

It didn't take long for Rainbow to reach the small dock, and as soon as she did she glanced behind herself. "Ha! It'll take those slowpokes hours to get here." She smirked. Ordinarily she wouldn't have been so rude, but this was the second time she flew like her usual speedy self, and it was beyond refreshing. As the mare started stretching she glanced up at the sky, trying in vain to find the sun. Rainbow wasn't sure what time it was, as the rain hadn't let up, but she figured it was probably the afternoon. _'Who cares, we still have plenty of time left.'_

Just then the sounds of heavy breathing reached her ears, and as she turned to the source she grinned. "What took you so long?"

In between breathes Rarity glared at her. "You know very well what took us!" The Unicorn hissed, all the while upset that sweat was being added to the mix. Now her mane and coat were completely soiled!

Everypony else was also short of breath, not used to traveling that much distance in a short amount of time.

Link did feel a little winded, but not as bad as the others. Needing a drink, he took out the bottle and removed the cork. Slowly but surely the bottle was filled with rain water, which was automatically safe to drink. As soon as it was getting full he took a swig, and then passed it along to the others. "Drink up."

The bottle was passed to each Pony, minus Rainbow, and they all drank as much as they needed to. Once it was empty, and after everypony had a drink, it was filled once again before being put away.

Now hydrated, and not out of breath anymore, the group was ready to continue. They once again had to cross the body of water, but it wasn't anymore difficult than the first time. And after making it back to the Tourist Center they headed for the building. There was no sign of the monkeys though, and come to think of it they weren't back there at the entrance to the Potion Shop area either. It was certainly confusing, but they figured they would worry about that later.

The group reached the door and opened it, and were now back in the Tourist Center. Nothing had changed since they left, not that they were expecting it to, but there was a small difference. The empty window no longer had a piece of paper next to it, and it was no longer empty. It was a little hard to see, but there was somebody in there.

Koume had returned to the Tourist Center right away, although she did stop and see Kotake first. After that though she went back to run the Boat Cruise, and almost immediately after she already had some customers. "Oh!" She exclaimed at the sight of the boy and Ponies. "Thanks for what you all did back there! In a special deal just for you, I'll let you all take this cruise for free."

"A free cruise? My, how generous." Rarity noted, a smile coming onto her face as she did so. Finally, they would be out of the nasty Swamp and on a luxurious cruise!

"Ah, yes, we've got a special going on right now, so we're giving this out for free!"

Link seized the item from her and held it high above his head. It was a brown box, with silver lining around the edges, and at the front was a gold colored lens.

"What is that thing?" Applejack questioned.

Before an answer could be given Pinkie took the box from the Hylian. "Silly Applejack, it's obviously a camera." She then proceeded to fiddle around with it, before accidentally taking a picture. The resulting flash blinded her temporarily, and she dropped it.

"Technically it's called a Pictograph Box." Koume explained as she watched the boy pick it up and put it somewhere on his body. "If you take a nice picture from the boat, take it to that fella over there. All right... the boat's leaving!"

"Alright girls, let's go." Twilight said with new found determination.

Rarity was way ahead of her, in fact she was already sprinting toward the door. "Out of my way, I have a luxury cruise waiting for me!"

Link and his Fairy glanced at one another before shrugging and heading to the exit as well.

Everypony else shook their head lightly before following after her.

* * *

That's a rap! So sorry for the wait between updates, but these chapters can take a bit, especially since I have to have the game open at some points for reference. Luckily, this is the longest chapter by far I think, so that's a big plus. I was originally going to include the Deku Palace stuff in this chapter, but this is so long already I decided to hold off, and I might include Woodfall Temple in the next one also. So Link and the Mane 6 helped Koume and are going on a cruise, which might not be as extravagant as Rarity thinks. Be sure to R&R and have a wonderful day!

FutureShock


	6. Woodfall Part One

Chapter Six: Woodfall Part One

"This is _not_ a luxury cruise!"

After leaving the Tourist Center again the group headed down to the dock, where the boat was located. They got on the boat and once they did they set out toward the Deku Palace. It wasn't a huge boat, in fact it was just a simple canoe, so not everyone could fit on it at the same time. Rainbow and Fluttershy chose to fly next to the boat, while everyone else took a seat where they could. It was a little tight, but they managed to all sit down. And now they were on their way to really help save the Swamp!

Flying in front of the 'cruise ship' was Koume, who was also serving as the tour guide. She was leading the boat along the water, and was taking her passengers through the Swamp. The path wasn't very complicated, seeing as how it was more or less a big circle, but she still felt the need to guide the group along. Not just to ensure the safety of her boat, but also because she wanted to repay them further for helping her.

It was rather slow going, and there wasn't much to do on the boat, but since there weren't many options they took what they could get. It wasn't so bad though, as at least there was scenery to look at. Sure it was nothing but Swamp, but the Ponies had to admit it was somewhat pleasant to observe. And yeah the rain was still pouring down on them, but with the fate of the world at stake they sucked it up. Besides, a nice relaxing boat ride was just what they needed... well, except for one.

Sitting on the front end of the boat, with her soaking wet mane in her face, Rarity was having the furthest thing from a good time. Was she asking too much for some sunshine and nice clean environments? The Unicorn didn't think so, yet fate seemed to love playing jokes on her. First her mane and coat get dirty wandering around the field, and then she had to rough it outdoors with only a blanket separating her from all of the ickiness on the ground, only to then get soaked by rain... and just when it seemed like something good was happening she was tricked into riding a small, cramped, roofless canoe through a dirty, foul smelling Swamp!

"Aw cheer up Rarity. I think this boat ride is really fun. Just look at all the curly trees, the huge vines, the lily pads, and all of this poisonous water!" Pinkie told her downtrodden friend, hoping that it would cheer her up.

"What were you expecting anyway? A huge ship with fancy snacks and servants?" Tatl asked incredulously.

"YES!" Rarity snapped as they passed under part of a waterfall, which succeeded in making her even wetter. In response to that she groaned loudly, and it took all of her restraint not to snap.

Twilight could tell this wasn't easy for her fashion forward friend, so she decided to speak up. "Don't worry Rarity, this will all be worth it when we finally defeat the Skull Kid." She could see her words didn't do much, which gave her another idea. "How about when this is all over we take a trip to the spa, and we can stay as long as you want."

Hearing that made the Unicorn turn her head toward the Alicorn, and she showed the small smile that recently formed across her face. "Well, I suppose that does make me feel better." She knew she would be suffering up until that point, but she also knew a full spa-day would return her to her former glory. So in the end she couldn't really be mad... although at some point she would speak with Koume about false advertisement.

The boat continued along into a more open area. What set this area apart from the previous ones were the giant red flowers sticking out of the ground, as well as the fallen logs. There appeared to be Rupees on a few of the flowers, but that was about it. On one of the logs a frog was hopping up and down, and his croaks were one of the few sounds that could be heard.

A smile came to Fluttershy's face as she took a moment to observe the frog. "Aw what a cute little froggy." She may have been on a scary adventure, filled with feral beasts, but at least there were still some adorable creatures out there. It also gave her hope that not all of the animals that she and her friends had, and will, come across will be as vicious as that Wolfos.

Applejack was taking the time to rest a bit, well it wasn't like she could sleep, but it felt good to not have to exert herself. As the boat took her she glanced around at their surroundings, and she couldn't help but notice how dreary everything was. The sky was gray, and there was no sign of the sun. Murky water surrounded them, which certainly didn't seem to be helping the trees. Not to mention the Moon was staring down at them, having gotten closer to the world. "So how far is the Deku Palace?"

Koume, who had been leading the boat along, craned her head to look at the Pony. "It's not much farther, although we will have to make it past the Big Octorok."

"What's an Octorok?" Fluttershy questioned, her curiosity having been piqued. It sounded like some kind of creature, which sparked her curiosity, but she had no idea what to expect. It could be some large terrifying monster with razor sharp teeth and vicious claws, or maybe it was just a name and the creature was in fact small, friendly, and cute. Either way she was feeling a little excited to see what awaited them.

As the boat came to a tunnel a big pair of light-green eyes suddenly emerged from the water. Those eyes belonged to a huge creature, which looked to be some kind of giant octopus or squid. Its body was light purple, and it had a big, spiked, gray shell on its back. What stood out the most was its big mouth, which looked wide enough to swallow the boat whole.

The shy mare gasped upon seeing it. "I've never seen such a creature before." It may have looked a little ugly, and scary, but she didn't really care.

"It sure is funny lookin'." Applejack observed.

"It's hideous!" Rarity added, feeling genuinely disgusted by it.

Twilight was also fascinated, if only because she wanted to study it. But since she didn't have a book she had to ask the 'expert'. "So that's an Octorok?"

"Yep. If you don't want to be sucked in, keep your distance. Aim from afar!"

Hearing that made Pinkie run up to the Fairy. "Ooh that sounds super duper fun!" For most Ponies the idea of getting eaten by a much larger creature was terrifying... but Pinkie Pie wasn't most Ponies. To her getting sucked up would be a good time, and anypony who thought differently just didn't know how to have fun.

Fluttershy had been so enraptured by the Octorok that she didn't even notice the boat was still going. This surprised her, as she was sure their guide would have stopped, especially since it didn't look like the creature was moving. Curious as to why, she flew over to the hag. "Um, excuse me, I was just wondering, h-how are we gonna make it past the Octorok?"

"Simple, we're going to go right through it." Koume answered.

In an instant the Pegasus' face went blank, and it soon began to pale. She was beginning to get over what happened to the Wolfos, mostly due to the fact that there wasn't a corpse left behind, but she hadn't been prepared for that answer. She understood what Link did, and obviously she was grateful. And now she and her friends were in a similar situation, and unless she wanted the innocent Octorok to die she had to do something.

Furrowing her brow, the mare flew ahead of the ship toward the Octorok. "Um, M-mr. Octorok?"

The Octorok didn't move, even when the flying horse entered its area. It looked ready to defend itself, but it didn't feel threatened yet.

Soon enough the shy mare was directly in front of the creature. It was a little scary being face to face with it, but she wasn't going to let her fears stop her. "I'm Fluttershy, and I was just wondering if you would be willing to let my friends and I pass." She gestured behind her to the boat, which had stopped. "You see we're trying to get to the Deku Palace to help save the Swamp, but we can't do that with you blocking the way. If you let us through I promise your home will be back to normal."

Everypony looked on nervously, wondering what would happen. They didn't want to doubt their friend, but due to the last encounter with a creature from Termina they were a little cautious.

Link simply stood there with his hand slowly reaching for his sword, as he wanted to be prepared for the inevitable.

A few seconds later tentacles rose out from the water, and they waved about in the air. In a near instant they shot out toward the horse and seized her, making everyone on the boat gasp. Instead of squishing her, or eating her, the Octorok pulled the horse in for a hug.

"Aw you're not such a bad creature are you?" Fluttershy cooed as she continued cuddling with the creature.

After a little longer the Octorok let go, and with a wave goodbye it retreated back into the water.

With the way clear Koume resumed leading the cruise boat.

Fluttershy had a huge smile on her face as she rejoined the others. Not only could she and her friends pass, but it also meant there were some animals out there that she could reach. So if they were to come across another type of wild animal or creature, which she was pretty sure of, then trying to reason with them and be kind was a viable option.

"Good job Fluttershy." Twilight praised as she noticed her friend's bright smile, which made her smile in turn.

"Well I couldn't let that poor Octorok die."

"I'm just glad it didn't eat you." Rainbow Dash joked.

Tatl flew right next to her partner. "Maybe that one isn't as useless as I thought." It was no secret that the Fairy judged the Ponies, and she pegged Fluttershy as the weakest link. The others, even with their drawbacks, at least had something to bring to the table. Tatl noticed right away how nervous and scared the butter-yellow Pegasus was, and that was before the Wolfos attack. But after what she just witnessed she had to give the Pegasus some credit.

Link nodded in agreement. He too had his doubts about Fluttershy, even though he didn't judge his new companions as harshly. She may have been kind, but that only went so far. And her supposed way with animals didn't seem to help her out... except in this instance that is. The Hylian had just been proven wrong, and he was actually glad. This meant that they wouldn't have to fight every single beast they came across, but it would also have to depend on which creatures she could befriend or not.

With the Octorok out of the way the boat was able to continue onward, and it slowly began making its way through the tunnel. Visibility was nonexistent inside of the tunnel, but luckily it wasn't that long and soon enough the boat was back out into the open. The water was no longer the dingy gray, instead it was a poisonous purple. Dozens of lily pads were scattered across the water, and there were also bizarre red trees with spikes all over them.

What stood out the most though was the big, red and green wall, which stood on a far off patch of land. On either side were lots and lots of trees, forming a barrier in conjunction with the wall. That was the only kind of building around, as everything else was just more Swamp. There was a waterfall, as well as some kind of huge fallen tree, but aside from that there wasn't much of note.

Koume continued leading the tour boat, all the way to the dock in front of the gate. As soon as she reached it she brought the boat to a stop. "Now arriving at Deku Palace. The Swamp water is poisonous here, so please watch your step."

Link took initiative and stepped off of the boat first, with Tatl following close behind him.

One by one the Ponies also got off the boat, and although Rarity wanted so badly to speak with Koume about her cruise she realized now probably wasn't the best time.

"Thank you again for helping us Koume, and I promise we'll have the Swamp back to normal in no time!" Twilight smiled before stepping onto the dock with her friends.

"Well good luck with that, and if you need anything you know where to find me. Ehehehe!" With an evil chuckle she began taking the boat back to the Tourist Center.

Now on the dock the group began heading toward the gate. Directly in front of the dock was a sign pointing behind them, which the Hylian read. "Woodfall Temple above waterfall. Take shortcut from Deku Palace."

"What in the hay is Woodfall Temple?" Applejack questioned, having no idea what it could be.

"It sounds like a place Daring Do would explore." Rainbow noted before her face lit up with excitement. "Do you know how awesome that would be?! Exploring dark dungeons, uncovering traps, finding hidden treasures, battling scary monsters!"

Fluttershy let out a small whimper before shaking. Everything was bad enough as it was, but now there was the possibility of going to some really scary place. The shy mare didn't have much to worry about though, as not only would her friends be there but Link as well... but she just couldn't shake the thought of something bad happening.

Seeing this, Pinkie placed a comforting hoof upon her worried friend. "Don't worry Fluttershy, we won't let any super scary monsters eat one of our friends!"

The pink-maned Pegasus offered a small smile in return.

"Hey are you going to just stand there or are you going to help us?!" Tatl yelled from the entryway where her partner was walking through.

Everypony realized that they would find out what Woodfall Temple was soon enough, and that they were wasting time. It probably hadn't been that long, but every second counts considering they only had less than two days left. So they all resumed their pace and followed Link through the only open passageway.

Now the group stood on a grass covered platform, with a little bit of fencing covering some of the sides. There was a sign pointing to the right, as well as two other signs in the water pointing in opposite directions. Three wooden platforms were floating in the poisoned water in front of them, they weren't connected but were in close enough proximity to form a bridge. An abundance of lily pads were in the area, all of which seemed to form a path on either side. On the right was another grassy platform, which had a Deku Flower which led up to some kind of entrance.

On the other side was what could only be the Deku Palace. Two _huge_ spiked walls towered over them, with the top part colored green and the bottom painted red. Far beyond that was some kind of big green structure with several huge holes at the top, as well as a doorway at the bottom. And resting in the entryway between the walls were two red, orange, and green Deku Flowers.

Link reached into his inventory and pulled out his Deku Mask, as he had a feeling he would need to be a Deku. He placed the mask upon his face, and after undergoing the transformation again he became a Deku. It wasn't really as painful as it was the first time, which came as a pleasant surprise to the Hylian. And now as a Deku he began making his way along the makeshift bridge.

Everypony wasted no time in following him, and all the while they were wondering how the situation would play out from here. They knew nothing about the Deku, except that their home became poisonous. There was also what the man at the Tourist Center told them, about how the King supposedly went mad. It wasn't much to go on, and it certainly didn't help put them at ease, but one way or another they would save the Swamp!

Right as they reached the entrance two Deku Guards sprung up from the Flowers, completely blocking the way forward. The Scrubs looked similar to Link, except instead of wearing green hats they had three leaves sticking out of their heads.

"This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom. Only those on official business may enter!" The Guard on the left exclaimed. "...But you may enter to see the public humiliation of the foolish monkey who angered our King."

"Public humiliation?" Twilight questioned, not liking the sound of that.

"That's right! That monkey did something horrible to our King, and so he's getting punished."

Hearing that made Fluttershy gasp. "Goodness, that poor monkey."

"Hey that monkey deserves it for what he did!" The Deku Scrub on the right noted.

"Aren't ya bein' a bit too harsh?" Applejack questioned.

"You horses may not understand, but we Deku look out for one another. And anyone who crosses us gets punished!"

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes as she walked up to the Guards. "Oh yeah, well let me tell you something mister, I-" She was cut off by something hitting her in the head, knocking her over.

In an instant the Princess was by her friend's side. "Are you alright Pinkie?"

"No, because that meanie hit me in the head!" She exclaimed as she pointed accusingly at the Guard.

Rainbow Dash too narrowed her eyes as she approached them as well. "Look we're trying to help you here! Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, what's it gonna be?"

Both Scrubs exchanged glances before each spitting Deku Seeds at the horse.

The cyan mare barely ducked in time, and after coming back up she resumed her glaring.

Link walked up to the Pegasus and pushed her back toward the others. After that he faced the Guards. "Please forgive them. Can we see the monkey or not?"

" _You_ can see the monkey... the horses will have to stay outside."

Everypony frowned upon hearing that. They had come to the Swamp to help save the world, and they had done so as a team. Every obstacle they came across they solved as a team... except for the Wolfos situation, but still. And now the Guards wouldn't let them into the Deku Kingdom, which meant Link had to go alone. It's not that they didn't think he couldn't handle it, it's just that they had no idea what was going on in there. It seemed like tension was pretty high, and if something went wrong it could be bad for Link.

Applejack approached their Deku friend and led him slightly away from the Guards. "Are ya sure yer alright goin' in by yerself?"

He nodded.

"You Ponies need to relax, he'll be fine. Look we'll be in and out in no time." Tatl assured.

"Well, just take care of yerself."

With another nod the Deku went back over to the Guards, who went back into their Flowers to allow him passage.

Now everypony was standing out in the rain. "So now what, are we just supposed to stand out here until Link returns?" Rarity questioned.

"Well the Guards won't let us in, so I don't think we have much of a choice." Twilight answered.

Beside her the cyan Pegasus groaned. "Oh come on, that could take forever! I say we bust in there and free the monkey ourselves!"

In response to that suggestion the Alicorn glared at her friend. "Rainbow Dash we can't just barge into the palace!"

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "They clearly don't want us going inside, and we have to respect that."

"I don't like waiting out here either darling, but that doesn't give us the excuse to break the law."

"Yeah and we can always play some games to pass the time!" Pinkie beamed as she reached into her bag and took out a board game.

Rainbow ignored the pink Pony and slumped down, all the while crossing her forehooves over her chest. "Fine..."

With that settled Twilight began figuring out what the next step was. Unfortunately that wasn't going to be easy, as she and her friends had hit a bit of a roadblock. Their main priority was helping the Deku and the monkey, but they could accomplish neither at the moment. She and her friends weren't allowed inside of the Kingdom, which meant they couldn't help anypony in there. It was troubling, and the Princess wasn't sure how to proceed.

Applejack noticed her friend was deep in thought, and she could guess why. "Ah know ya want ta help, but we jus' can't this time." She stated.

"I know, and I'm sure Link will be fine in there... but I'm still worried. There's clearly something going on in there, but they won't let us in. How are we supposed to help them if they won't let us?"

"Ah know it looks bad right now, but ya have ta think positive. Sure we can't go in and see the Deku King, but we have Link doin' that for us. Ah'm confident that he'll have this taken care of lickety split."

"Applejack's right, I'm sure Link will be able to save that poor monkey." The shy mare added.

Despite still feeling a little worried Twilight was starting to calm down, if only because of her friends' encouragement. "You're right, girls. And hey, maybe Link will find a way to get us inside."

"I sure hope so, because at this point I am beyond soaked." Rarity noted as she moved some of her droopy mane out of her face. She was grateful for the rainwater washing her dirty coat, but water could only do so much... and it certainly didn't do her mane any favors.

"It would be faster if we went in and helped him." The rainbow-maned mare muttered.

Pinkie had been in pretty close proximity to her, and as such heard the muttering. "Don't worry Rainbow Dash, Link is one tough cookie. He'll get those mean old Deku to release that monkey, and then we'll all have a big party to celebrate!"

A small chuckle escaped the Alicorn's mouth upon hearing that. "I don't know about a party, but I do hope that the Deku King calms down." Obviously she didn't have all of the details, and as such had no idea of the Deku King's current state, but she had a feeling something was wrong with him. From what she heard the monkey did something bad to the King, which was the reason for his punishment. The lavender Pony was hoping that the two could find a way to get along, and not issue out a punishment.

"Me too, I just couldn't stand the thought of some cute little monkey getting punished." Fluttershy had a feeling that the monkey being punished was similar to the ones she and her friends encountered earlier in the Woods of Mystery. If that was the case then it was indeed a cute little monkey at the mercy of an angry King, which worried the shy mare greatly.

Suddenly an idea came to the cyan mare's head. "Hey I know, you can just use your Stare. Yeah, you can make the Guards let us in, and make the Deku King free the monkey."

In response to that the pink-maned Pegasus gasped. "Gosh, I couldn't do that! I mean, I do want that monkey freed, but I can't use my Stare for that." Her Stare was meant only for animals, disobedient animals. And just because she had the Stare at her disposal doesn't mean she wanted to use it on just anypony.

"It's okay Fluttershy, you don't have to use your Stare if you don't want to." Twilight told her.

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Besides, ah'll bet Link's already solved the problem."

Not a moment later Link came flying out of the entrance, screaming as he did so. The Deku Scrub landed unceremoniously on his back, which was a little painful.

"Link!" Everypony exclaimed as they ran to his prone figure.

Several moments passed before the Deku started getting up, all the while clutching his head.

"Are you alright?" The lavender Alicorn questioned.

"We told you not to enter any areas other than the Royal Chamber!" One of the Guards yelled before burrowing back into their flower.

"So what exactly happened in there?" The farm-Pony asked.

Tatl flew out from underneath her companion's hat. "We saw the monkey, and the King has him tied up." She explained, earning some gasps from the Ponies. "Apparently they think he kidnapped the King's daughter, and they're all pretty excited to punish him. They have the monkey tied up to a pole and locked behind a big set of bars."

Link nodded in confirmation.

That bit of news made the shy mare even more worried. "So there's no way to free that monkey?"

"Actually, there might be." The Fairy stated, catching everypony's attention. "After visiting the monkey we did a little sneaking around, and we think we know of a way to get to him. There are a bunch of Guards patrolling around the Inner Palace Gardens, and there are two different pathways. Either way leads to a dead end... but there also seems to be an upper level connecting the two."

"In the monkey's cage is a passageway, which is raised above the ground." The Hero of Time added.

Twilight took this information in, and she almost instantly realized where they were going. "Oh, I get it. You're saying there might be a way to get into the monkey's cage from the upper level of the Deku Palace?"

He nodded.

"That's great!" The Princess exclaimed.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to get there?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"I don't suppose the Deku changed their minds about letting us in?" Rarity asked with a hopeful grin.

A deadpan look came to Tatl's face, even if the Ponies couldn't see it. "They just threw us out, so what do you think?"

The Unicorn let out a semi-frustrated sigh. "Well then what do you suggest we do?"

"Oh oh oh oh pick me pick me!" Pinkie pleaded as she frantically waved a hoof in the air. She then waited for somepony to pick on her, but when nopony said anything she just spoke anyway. "What if we sneak around back and enter the cage that way?"

A moment of silence followed as everypony stared at the pink-maned Pony.

Pinkie Pie noticed the looks she was receiving. "What?"

"That's a nice idea, but how do ya expect us ta get behind the Kingdom?" The blonde mare questioned.

"Maybe we could fly?" Fluttershy suggested.

"They'd probably see us." Twilight noted.

As the Ponies were discussing a plan Link's attention had been drawn elsewhere. He had caught sight of two signs in the water, each one pointing in each respective direction. The one to his left lead to the Deku Shrine, while the other lead to the Outer Palace Gardens. He didn't think the Shrine was where he wanted to go, but the Outer Garden sounded pretty promising. There was no guarantee that it would be useful, but it was worth a shot.

He then turned to face the Ponies. "This way." He told them as he pointed toward his right.

Everypony saw where he was pointing, and they instantly noticed the trail of lily pads. They paused for a few seconds, but when they saw Link already moving they followed after him. Since the water was poisonous the three winged Ponies carried the wingless ones, which was becoming a bit of a routine at this point. They followed close behind the Deku, and they noticed the trail of lily pads was leading them around the Kingdom. It didn't seem like they could get behind it though, as there was a wall in the way, but it was a good start.

After hopping off of the final lily pad the Deku landed on a small patch of land, with nice soft grass underneath his boots. There was an average sized bush against the back wall, which was in between two trees. Directly in front of him, and a little to the right, was what looked like a very small tree stump, with a much smaller piece of stump in front of it to act as a stair. Growing inside of the stump was a Mini Baba. And to the left of that was a small patch of soil.

Shortly after the Ponies reached the safety of land, and after touching down on the ground they approached Link.

"So where do we go now?" The farm-Pony questioned.

Twilight took a good look around the area, but she didn't see any kind of passageways or openings in the back wall. Her eyes then drifted upward, where she noticed something odd about the wall directly to her left. "Hey look at that." She pointed up to a square-shaped hole in the wall, and it didn't take long for her to realize what that was for. "I'll bet that's how we get to the second floor!"

Rainbow Dash was already up there, and after a few moments she flew back down to the group. "Well there's not much of a second floor, just some Guard Towers and floating platforms."

"Is that what you meant by upper level?" The Generous mare questioned.

The Deku nodded.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" With newfound determination the cyan Pegasus grabbed Pinkie and flew her up to the second level, as that was the only way to get up there.

Twilight grabbed a hold of Rarity, and her shy friend grabbed Applejack. She was starting to get used to flying, which may have been helped by the fact that any flying was was done in short bursts. Still, it was great practice, and she was glad for it. Once she and her friends were safely on the platform she noticed Rainbow go down and retrieve Link, since he couldn't fly without using Deku Flowers.

Once they were all together again they made their way around the small, tight, corridor before reaching a platform with a Deku Flower upon it. Everypony took a good look around, as this was their first view of the inside of the Deku Palace. The first thing they noticed were all of the wooden walls and objects, which seemed to have been placed in such a manner to make it harder to move around. Multiple Guards were present, all of which were patrolling a certain area. It seemed like an area for sneaking around, and without knowing what was around the corner one could easily bump into a Guard.

Off to the side was a big Tower, which had a Deku Flower resting on top of it. Occasionally an orange Deku Scrub would pop out, but after taking a quick look around it would hide back in the Flower. To the left of that was an opening of sorts, which appeared to lead to another part of the Palace. And lastly there was a floating platform, with a Deku Flower on it, which somehow managed to stay in the air despite nothing holding it up.

"Okay we made it to the upper level, but how do we get to the monkey?" The Alicorn asked.

"It looks like the only way we can go is ta the left." Applejack noted.

Fluttershy turned toward the Hylian. "Is that where we want to go?"

Link nodded.

"Hm, but what about that Guard over there?" Pinkie pointed at the tower, where the Scrub just burrowed back into its Flower.

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Oh yeah, what are we going to do about that _stationary_ Guard? We can just fly around him, it'll be easy."

"Deku Scrubs can't shoot their Seeds very far, so for once I agree with you." Tatl noted. "However... they do have good eyesight, and if they were to see us that could complicate matters."

"Although I can't stand you I have to agree. If those Guards were to learn of our presence things could get ugly, and they would probably try and lock us up as well." Rarity stated.

"So what are we going to do?" The shy mare questioned.

Pinkie Pie's brow furrowed as she contemplated the group's next move, which didn't take long as evidenced by the big grin that came to her face. "Oh I know! I'll bet Twilight could put them to sleep with her magic!"

A smile came to Twilight's face. "Pinkie that's brilliant!" In an instant she pulled out her spell book and began frantically searching for a sleep spell. They weren't the most common, and the method she used on the Ursa Minor probably wouldn't work here. Still, there were most likely other options, there just had to be.

As his companion searched the Deku Scrub took a moment to think. The Deku Flower in front of him would allow him to travel above ground, but he could only go so far, and he certainly couldn't reach all the way to the prison. His eyes then drifted back to the Guard Tower, which gave him an idea. If the Guard were to exit the Deku Flower then anyone could use it, including him. And since there were multiple Towers it would make getting across very easy.

"I've got something!" The Princess declared, earning the group's attention. "There is a spell in here that will allow me to put the Guards to sleep. but it will only last for a short time."

"Sweet! So all we have to do is put the Guards to sleep, and then we can zoom past 'em!" The cyan mare exclaimed, only for an orange hoof to cover her mouth.

"Keep it down Rainbow, you'll get us caught!" Applejack warned before she turned to face the lavender Pony. "And yer sure this spell will work?" She wasn't trying to doubt her friend, she just wanted to be absolutely sure that the Guard would be sound asleep.

"Well I've never tried it before, but it shouldn't be too hard. Although it would be good to test it first."

Instantly the pink mare ran up to her friend. "Oh try it out on me!"

Seeing as how she needed a test subject, and because none of her other friends seemed to want to volunteer, Twilight agreed. She took one last look at the page before setting the book down. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she prepared to cast the spell. Her horn became bathed in a purple glow as she concentrated, and the size of the aura increased a little bit as time went on. Shortly after a light-purple mist began flowing out of her horn.

Pinkie Pie looked on in fascination as the mist began swirling around her. "Ooh misty!" She smiled, only to yawn a moment after. Her eyelids started to get heavy, and it seemed all of her previous energy had left her. An even bigger yawn escaped her mouth before her eyes finally closed. She then fell to the ground, and began snoring rather softly. Despite lying on a hard wooden surface the Earth Pony looked very peaceful, and it didn't seem like she would be getting up any time soon.

"It worked!" The Alicorn cheered, only to cover her mouth when she realized that had been a little loud. She slowly peaked her head out, and when she saw that nopony had noticed her outburst she sighed in relief. "Alright, so now all I have to do is put the Guard to sleep and then we can save the monkey!"

"Yeah there might be a slight problem with that." The Fairy stated.

Fluttershy looked toward the Fairy with confusion. "What kind of problem?"

"For one there are multiple Guard Towers, and I'm pretty sure they all have Scrubs in them, Second, while you Ponies can fly whenever you want Deku Boy has to rely on Deku Flowers, and I doubt he'll be able to make it all the way to the other side using just one."

"Oh, right..." A frown came to Twilight's face as she absorbed that new piece of information. She had been so focused on finding a way to get to the monkey, as well as figuring out how to 'remove' the Guards, that she hadn't even thought about Link. He, much like some of her friends, couldn't fly under his own power... well he could, but not in the same way. That meant he needed Deku Flowers to fly, and there was only one... "If by some chance that Guard were to leave that Flower, could you use it to fly?"

He nodded.

 _'That's what I was afraid of.'_ This complicated matters, as putting the Scrubs to sleep was no longer an option. Asking them to leave was also out of the question, because not only would they most likely refuse but also alert the Deku Palace. Fluttershy's Stare was an option, but she didn't want to make her friend do something she didn't want to. That just left one choice, and she didn't dare to even consider it.

"You must have offensive spells, right?" He asked.

"...I do... but, to make that Scrub leave I'd have to, have to..."

Tatl groaned loudly. "Ugh you Ponies are too soft! You want to save the monkey right, well taking out that Deku Scrub is the only way to do it!"

Link also wasn't that keen on killing that Guard, if only because he hadn't done anything to them... but he would given the chance. The Deku clearly didn't want them in their Kingdom, and if they were to learn that intruders were snooping around it could get ugly. Was it right to kill innocent creatures just trying to protect their home... of course not, but it had to be done. They needed to free the imprisoned monkey, and this was the only way to do so.

Twilight's face became a little pale, and she found herself feeling a little queasy. Sure she was still getting over what happened with the Wolfos, but that wasn't her who had 'taken care of it'. Link seemed to have no problem defending himself and killing whatever stood in his path; that's not to say he was cruel and malicious, but he did so in order to survive. Now she was tasked with a similar problem, and she wasn't sure if she could handle it.

Applejack took a few steps forward and placed a comforting hoof upon her worried friend. "Ah know how hard this is, and believe me the rest of us ain't too happy about it either, but it's the only way."

The Princess glanced back at her friends, who were trying to offer their reassurance by smiling. "So you won't hate me for doing it?" Obviously she knew her friends, and knew that it would take a lot for them to stop being friends with her. Considering what she was about to do, she just wanted to be sure that they wouldn't think of her as a monster.

"You're our friend darling, and we could never hate you." Rarity assured.

"Yeah and on the bright side we'll be able to save that monkey!" Pinkie added, having just woken up a mere moment ago.

Fluttershy was a little pensive, as even though she cared deeply for her friend she didn't want to see a poor Deku die. She could see why they needed to do it, but that didn't mean she agreed completely. Would it mean that she would stop being friends with Twilight, of course not! The shy mare would just need more time to adjust to these new situations, and try not to let it bother her too much.

"Can we hurry this up, I think my hooves are falling asleep."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight turned back to face the Guard. Her horn was pointed at the Tower, and she waited for the right moment. As soon as she noticed the Scrub beginning to pop back out she made her move. A magenta colored beam shot out of her horn, and it zoomed across the horizon like a bolt of lightning. Her attack struck the clueless Guard, and she watched as it jumped up slightly before turning red and finally collapsing. When all was said and done she simply stared at the now empty Guard Tower, and her mind was trying to process if she had really just done that.

Link glanced over at her, and saw how troubled she looked. He couldn't blame her, and it certainly felt weird for him too the first time. A few seconds later he returned his focus to the task at hand, and headed for the nearby Deku Flower.

"Are you going to be alright dear?"

It took a few moments for the Alicorn to respond. "Y-yeah, I think I'll be okay."

Pinkie Pie quickly wrapped her hooves around her friend's neck. "Well don't you worry Twilight, we'll be here for you no matter what!"

"Thanks Pinkie." The lavender mare replied with a smile.

"Um, I think we should get going."

Everypony looked and saw Link standing on the Tower, staring directly back at them. They then got ready to follow, and once the three winged Ponies had their flightless friends in their grasp they took off. It was a little daunting floating above the Guards, especially if they were to drop... aside from the obvious threat of death. It was a relief though that the Guards hadn't been alerted, and informed them that their hearing wasn't the best.

Once they reached the Tower they were finally able to see the next area. It looked pretty much the same as the first, except for a few layout differences. There was another floating/moving platform, same with the Guard Tower. At the back right was a raised platform with some kind of entryway, which they suspected led to where they needed to go.

Link burrowed deep into the Deku Flower before popping up a few moments later. With a Petal in each hand he floated through the air, and then safely landed onto the moving platform.

They were about to follow, but then paused when they noticed the Guard was staring directly at them. Panic began to set in as the Ponies worried that their cover had been blown. Not only would that get them all in big trouble, but also make rescuing the monkey nearly impossible. To their luck and relief the Guard wasn't calling for help, and instead just shot something out of its mouth at Link.

The Hero of Time avoided the projectile before forming a bubble, which he then shot at the hostile Scrub. His bubble hit the Guard and took him out, similar to what happened with the last one. With that taken care of he once again burrowed into the Flower and then shot out of it. He only then realized that the path from the moving platform to the stationary one wasn't that far, and taking out the Guard wasn't that necessary. Then again, it was probably for the best anyway. Sure the Guard hadn't called for help, but he easily could have. At this point it was better not to take risks.

It also made him realize just how far his magic bubbles could travel, and that he maybe could have taken down the first Guard instead. He figured it worked out better this way, as it was good for his companions to get over their fears of killing sooner rather than later.

Everypony resumed their flight and made their way over to their new friend, some quicker than others. Never the less they all made it onto the safety of the platform, and after taking a brief moment to rest they continued onward. Going through the opening revealed a bridge, which was a little on the narrow side. Being on the bridge revealed they were in the main hallway of the Kingdom, and the fact that they were on it went completely unnoticed by the Guards at the front entrance. They didn't stay there long and kept going to the next part.

Navigating through the rest of the Palace wasn't that difficult, considering how similar it was to what they had been doing previously. Take out a Guard, have Link use that Deku Flower, rinse and repeat. Luckily Link had been able to take care of the Guards, as their Towers had been in close proximity to him, so that helped put Twilight's mind at ease. She was still shaken up by what she had done, and she still found it hard to watch those Guards die, but at least she wasn't directly responsible. That certainly didn't make it okay by any means, but at least there would be less weighing on her already frazzled mind.

After what felt like forever the group reached a rather high up platform, which was intended to be reached via the platform that both moved and rose higher into the air. The Deku Scrub touched down onto the wood and breathed a small sigh of relief. He then waited for his companions to reach the same spot.

Fluttershy found herself struggling, as she had been carrying Rarity for quite a while. She did have a small break, but then it was right back to more flying. While the Pegasus had gotten used to carrying things heavier than a bunny it was still hard for her, especially when she had to travel long distances and then have to fly upwards. As such her grip slipped, and she dropped her friend.

Despite needing to be stealthy Rarity couldn't contain her fear, and let out a yelp as soon as she realized she was falling. Not a moment later she noticed she had stopped falling, as well as the purple aura covering her body. The Unicorn breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she was hoisted up to the safety of the platform, courtesy of the Alicorn. She then found herself trapped in a tight hug.

"I'm so so sorry Rarity I almost dropped you! Can you ever forgive me?"

"It's okay Fluttershy, I know you didn't drop me on purpose." The Generous mare replied as she returned the embrace.

"What are you two doing?! Get in here before you're both caught!"

At the Fairy's yell the two Ponies quickly went into the entrance.

Down below one of the Guards thought he heard something, but when he tried to find out what made that noise he came up empty. So he just continued on with his route.

Standing in the hallowed section of the greenish-yellowish mountain of sorts, the group breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't been caught. They then continued down the path, which quickly led them to someplace indoors. Link recognized it right away, as he had seen it personally albeit briefly. The Ponies weren't sure at first, but it didn't take them long to figure it out. And as soon as they had they gasped.

Tied up high on a wooden pole, was the monkey. A set of wooden bars separated him from his captors. Speaking of, the Deku King was preforming a dance of sorts, most likely out of joy that the monster responsible for his daughter's disappearance was going to get a fitting punishment. There was a big, raging bonfire in the center of the room, which may or may not be for the monkey. Several Guards were also present and they seemed just as eager as their King to get the punishment underway. The only one who didn't seem as excited was a rather tall Deku standing next to the King, who was simply standing perfectly still.

Link was in front, and he quickly turned to face the group and shushed them. Not that they were talking, but he knew that any noise made could completely ruin their chances of rescuing the imprisoned monkey.

"Psst!"

Lifting his head up, the monkey tried to find the source of the voice. To his surprise it had come from not only the kind Deku Scrub who had visited him earlier, but also six multi-colored horses.

Once they had their attention Fluttershy slowly flew over to the trapped creature, since she was the quietest of the group. "Aw you poor little monkey, locked inside of this cage."

"They keep saying I kidnapped her. No matter how many times they say it, it's not going to bring the Princess back! If they're not careful, the Princess will fall victim to a monster!"

"Goodness! A m-monster?" She didn't like the sound of that, especially since it would most likely be her and her friends dealing with it.

He nodded sadly. "Why won't they believe what I say?

A frown came to the Pegasus' face before she began rubbing his chin with her hoof. "Don't worry Mr. monkey, my friends and I are here to rescue you."

"Hey!"

Everypony froze as their eyes slowly drifted past the bars, where they noticed the Deku were staring at them. By the looks of it they weren't too pleased, especially the King.

In an instant the monkey began thrashing around. "We don't have much time, so just listen to me! I was trying to find out about the poison in the Swamp, so I went to Woodfall Temple above the waterfall. But the Temple had become a monster's lair, and the Princess was captured by the monster... and since the Deku King thinks I kidnapped the Princess, he won't listen to a word I say. Now the Princess is in trouble, so I must somehow hurry to the Temple to save her!"

At this point everypony else had gone down into the cage, in order to better hear what the monkey had to say.

Meanwhile the Guards were scrambling out of the room, most likely to warn all of the other Guards.

"What if we went to Woodfall Temple instead?" Twilight asked.

The monkey took a brief moment to ponder that. On the one paw he was the only one who knew how to get into the Temple, but on the other paw he was trapped and it didn't seem like escaping was an option at the moment. Besides, there were seven of them, whereas there was only one of him. "That would be best, so now I'll teach you the melody that opens the Temple. The Princess taught it to me! We can't let them hear us, so I'll sing it softly..." He then began to sing, and luckily it seemed like a short song.

Link instantly took out his Deku Pipes and began following along, as there wasn't much time left. He played the song once, and as soon as he did he played it once more.

As this was happening Rainbow Dash exchanged curious glances with her friends. "So when are the Guards-"

* * *

One by one the Ponies were thrown out of the Deku Palace, which was then followed by Link. They had quickly been swarmed by angry Guards, who quickly removed them from the monkey's cell. The last words they heard were the monkey's frantic warnings, as well as the King yelling about commencing the punishment. After that they had been simply tossed outside, which had been pretty merciful considering.

"Well that was rather rude." Rarity commented as she dusted herself off.

"Yeah but it was kind of fun getting thrown out." Pinkie Pie added.

"Now where do we want ta go?" The blonde Pony questioned.

Twilight took a good look around, and she noticed two possible places they could go. They could go to the left, but that just seemed like it would lead back into the Deku Palace. That just left the natural entrance in the side of the rock wall, which was a branching path to the one they took to get into the second floor of the Palace. "I guess we want to go there." She pointed to where she was looking.

The rest of the group saw where she was pointing, and since they had no other ideas they agreed with her. Once again the winged Ponies carried the wingless ones, while Link simply hopped across the water. Once they reached the small patch of land the Deku Scrub read the sign, and he nodded at the Ponies, telling them that this was indeed the way to go. And so he went into the nearby Deku Flower and flew himself up, while his companions did the same. Once they reached the entrance they headed through it.

Now they were back in the Southern Swamp, except they were much higher up than before. Directly in front of them was some kind of orange colored platform with a Deku Flower in the middle. Further out were what looked like huge trees, with big orange leaves that they were able to stand upon. It also told them that what they were standing on was also a big tree. Looking down revealed that they were in the part of the Swamp that was right before the Deku Kingdom.

Flying around in the sky were what looked like two big insects. They had red and blue bodies, big wings, oddly shaped heads, and electrified tails. Even from far away their buzzing could be heard.

"What are those things?" The rainbow-maned mare asked.

"They're Dragonflies. As long as you stay away from its tail, it's no big danger." Tatl explained.

"Which way now Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm not sure, but maybe if he head to that last tree we'll be able to figure it out."

With the plan set the group headed off to the tree. It took the Deku Scrub a little longer than his companions, because he had to go from one Deku Flower to the next, but it wasn't that bad. It was still a little strange being able to fly through the air, especially since he only had two flowers to do it. Having to watch out for the Dragonflies was a little scary, if only because it could possibly mean certain death. Luckily they seemed to be ignoring him, and he had been able to safely make it to the intended destination.

Once on the tree the group caught sight of the waterfall, which was where they wanted to go, but that wasn't the only thing. Perched on top of some weird looking stone tablet was a huge brown owl. Said owl was gazing intently at them, as if beckoning them to come over. For Twilight, it reminded her of Owlowiscious, her pet back in Ponyville. She wondered how he was doing, and how the Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing looking after him.

"That owl's freaking me out." Rainbow stated.

"Yes, he's quite creepy." The Unicorn added.

"Well the monkey said that Woodfall Temple was behind the waterfall, so we gotta go over there." Applejack said.

Link found himself staring back, as the owl seemed very familiar. He also wasn't as creeped out by it as his companions were. Sure it was a little odd seeing a big owl out in a Swamp, but the Hero of Time figured it had to be there for a reason. Either way there was only one way to find out, and that was by going over there as the Honest Pony had said. So he burrowed into the Flower and after popping up he flew over to the ledge, leaving his companions to follow.

"Ho-ho-ho-ho-hoot!" The owl sounded as the group landed in front of him. "This is a rare sight. You are a Fairy child, correct? And the six of you appear to be Ponies." He received nods from the group. "What business might you have in this poisoned Swamp?"

"We're trying to save the Swamp and that poor old monkey Mr. Owl!" Pinkie beamed.

The owl nodded. "This Swamp you are in has lost its guardian deity. But it was destined to fade anyway. Hoo-hoot... and that destiny is not solely limited to this Swamp..."

"What do you 'lost its guardian deity'?" Twilight questioned.

"In due time you will understand. Now then, if you have the courage and determination to proceed in the face of destiny, then I shall teach you something useful. Before coming here, had you not seen any of the stone statues that bear close resemblance to me?"

"Yeah, I saw one when we first entered the Swamp!" Applejack noted.

"I have placed those throughout the land to aid the one with the power to change the destiny of this land... wherever he may appear. If you have left proof of our encounter on any of those stone statues, then the song carved at my feet will certainly be of some assistance. Remember it well and play it wherever the need arises. From the first time you play this song, we shall become eternal friends, transcending time and place!" With his message delivered the owl unfurled his wings and took off.

Pinkie waved goodbye to him. "Bye Mr. Owl!"

"Was it just me, or was that guy pretty weird?" The cyan mare asked.

"He was a little strange, but at least he's on our side." Rarity stated.

Fluttershy then turned to the Princess. "Do you think that's true what he said, about playing the song?"

Twilight Sparkle had learned a lot about friendship, hence why she became the Princess of it. Yet she hadn't heard of Ponies becoming eternal friends just by playing a song once. She obviously wasn't against the idea, not at all, but she did find it strange. Perhaps when all was said and done she would ask Princess Celestia, as well as do some of her own research. "I'm not sure, but we can worry about that later." That definitely an odd thing for somepony like her to say, but it was true.

Meanwhile Link had been standing in front of the stone, which had several music notes written upon it. Nodding, the Deku took out his Pipes and played the notes exactly as they were written. There were six notes in total, technically three since they repeated. After playing the song and memorizing it he put his instrument away and turned back to face the Ponies. He then pointed to his left, where another platform was located.

Everypony nodded before doing the usual routine, and once they all reached the platform they headed into the opening.

Now the group was in an even Swampier area, as it was mostly water and there weren't too many patches of land. There were some raised patches of land, which looked like they were once full trees but were now just trunks. Wooden bridges connected them together, but not all of them were connected. In the middle were two trees which had been reduced to nothing but the trunk. Further beyond that was a raised platform, which was the highest point in the area.

"Ah don't get it. The monkey said Woodfall Temple was behind the waterfall, but ah don't see it."

"Maybe it's hiding!" The pink Pony smiled.

Tatl rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, an _entire_ Temple is hiding."

Twilight thought back to what the monkey had told them, and how they needed to play that song to open the Temple. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that though. It seemed pretty self-explanatory, but she had no idea how to go about doing it. Could the song be played anywhere, and how exactly could a song open a Temple anyway? As she was in thought her eyes drifted over to the platform in the back, and how it stood out among everything else in the area.

Figuring that was a good place to start, the Alicorn decided to go there next. Getting there on hoof would take a while, even with flight, so she opted for a faster method. Her eyes shut tight and her horn became bathed in a purple aura as she prepared the spell. Grunting rather loudly, she continued channeling her magic before her and her friends vanished in the blink of an eye. Not a moment later they appeared on the far away platform.

On the platform were four pillars with banners going across each of them, three oddly placed pots, a Deku Flower, a statue depicting the owl, and a small circular platform with an odd design drawn on it.

The Deku Scrub walked up to the statue and stood, as if locked in a trance. It felt like it was speaking to him, even though it couldn't actually speak. He then removed his Deku Mask, returning to his Hylian form. Upon doing so he pulled out his sword and struck the statue, which made a green ball of light appear that quickly burst in a bright flash. As soon as he could see he noticed the statue now resembled the owl as if it were about to soar, instead of resting as it had looked prior.

Rainbow Dash scratched her head in confusion. "What did that do?"

"It might have something to do with the song the owl taught me." Link shrugged.

"Isn't this the Deku Scrub mark? I wonder if they worshiped here?" Tatl asked.

They all turned their heads to the Fairy, who was looking at the weird design. The Alicorn took a good long look at it, and the more she did the more she realized that this might be what they were looking for. Could it just be a coincidence that a song was needed to reach Woodfall Temple, a song known by the Deku, and that there was a spot with a Deku Scrub mark upon it. "I think you should play that song the monkey taught you here."

Link nodded before once again putting the Deku Mask on, since he figured that only the Deku could access the Temple. Now as a Deku he stood on the spot and once again pulled out his Pipes. Luckily he had good memory when it came to songs, and as such was able to play it perfectly.

A slight pause ensued before the ground started shaking violently. Several seconds passed before the two trees began to rise up, bringing the water with it. It almost came close enough to reach the group, but luckily it had just stopped short of the platform. As the water receded a massive structure was revealed, which didn't even seem capable of being hidden under the water. The shape of it appeared to be a trapezoid, with another smaller trapezoid on top providing an entrance.

"That must be Woodfall Temple." The farm-Pony noted.

"Hey I was right, it was hiding." Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Come on, let's just get going." The Fairy grumbled.

The Deku Scrub burrowed into the Flower and after coming back out flew over to the Temple. He landed in front of the Deku Flower, which was in front of the entrance. He waited only a moment before his Pony companions landed next to him.

Fluttershy started shaking a bit, as she and her friends were now right outside of a Temple housing a scary monster.

Rarity placed a gentle hoof upon her worried friend. "Don't worry Fluttershy, it'll be okay."

"Yeah as long as we stick together we'll be completely fine!" The pink-maned mare added.

Soon enough the Ponies engaged in a group hug, a really tight group hug. There was no telling what would happen, or what they would face, but as Pinkie said they would be fine if they stuck together. As a group there wasn't anything they couldn't accomplish, and that was before they ran into Link. With all of them working in sync they would defeat the monster in the Temple, save the Deku Princess and the monkey, and bring peace to the Swamp.

Twilight noticed Link and Tatl staring at them, most likely waiting for the moment to be over. A few seconds later she and her friends broke apart the embrace, and were now ready to begin. "Come on girls, let's go!"

* * *

And that's the end. So Link and the Ponies reached the Deku Palace, learned the Sonata of Awakening and the Song of Soaring, and just entered Woodfall Temple. I figured I would end it there, and then next chapter will be the temple itself, hence why I split this into two parts. I'll probably do the same later, especially during the longer temples. I felt that some enemies were easier to tame than others, hence why Fluttershy was able to make the Octorok comply. How will the Ponies fare in their first temple, well you'll just have to wait and see. So be sure to R&R and have a wonderful day!

FutureShock


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